[Elegant]

Yahoo Article

I found this article interesting.

~Elegant

 

[stini]

Firstly, I really don't want to tread on any toes here, so please, no one be offended by me expressing a bit of opinion. But I've never understood why people think that suing will somehow make it better when a patient (human, canine, or otherwise) dies at a medical professional's office during surgeries.

I understand that families go through a lot of emotional pain when a loved one passes on.

I also understand that if it happened because of a careless mistake, then that should definately be looked in to.

But is taking someone to court really the answer? Will being awarded ridiculous amounts of money make a person feel less sad??

 

[kodie]

I agree too... but that doesnt stop how society is revolving. I think with time and technological advances for our pets.... will encourage more law suits to be filed and maybe there will also come a day we will HAVE to have some type of insurance for our pet... because the bills will be so expensive even for regular appointments.

I think its already expensive to have a dog. I took kodie to the emergerency vet hospital because my regular vet was closed at that time and the bill was the same amount as if I were to go to the gyno for a regular exam with no insurance. (the reason i know how much the gyno is... haha.. its a long story! hahaha) Anyway.. its about $125... and all they did with kodie is give him a medicine for a slight cold.

I dunno... very good article though.

 

[littlepeanut]

I totally agree with you guys, it is getting very ridiculous...every 2 minutes there is some lawyer commercial citing some kind of malpractice or car accident. I really learned a lot about business law in business school, and now trying to become a pharmacist, I'm seeing lots of medical malpractice stuff. It's just how our country has evolved. I mean that person who spilled coffee on themselves and got burned...if you ordered coffee don't you think it'd be hot? I mean if I spill coffee on myself, the last thing that I would think is to sue. I mean I bought hot coffee and I'm a clutz, oh well. And that guy that is suing mcdonalds because he gained so much weight by eating there like everyday. Like ronald mcdonald came to that guys house and force fed him hamburgers everyafternoon. I'm really touchy about this subject because of my family's business, and the just plain stupid lawsuits we get. Not trying to offend anyone, there are plenty of legit lawsuits too. I'll shush up now

 

[2happymalts]

It is an interesting article but I think the very last part states it all. It is a matter of how the vet deals with the incident that can ulitimately determine what happens. We lost one of our puppies at 6 weeks it was the hardest thing I have been through in ages and she was sent home and suffered all night (totaly mis-diagnosed by the vet long story ugh) and that night she was taken to emergency hospital and within 1 minute the vet told us what was wrong and that she was dying, she was born with a birth defect that they said the vet should have easily picked up on and she bled out in the abdomen during the time we took her in in the morning until we took her to the ER that night. It was the saddest thing as they sent her home in pain even after I questioned them about her status and looking worse than when we brought her in, the outcome would have been the same we would have had to put her to sleep but she would not have had to suffer all night long. The owner of the vet clinic was really gracious about it and met with me the next day to hear my concerns about the vet that took care of Piper and what had transpired and how it was unnecessary and because of his caring attitude and willingness to make changes so that this did not happen to anyone else and he refunded us the money it cost for the vet that day, as we had the ER bill on top of it. (it was never about the money) but his attitude went along way to calm a very negligent incident, and we still take our animals there, however we will only see two vets there and the entire clinic is well aware of that

It is that way in medicine also, lawsuits have gotten way out of hand, but I also think physicians can do a lot to help the situations by the way they handle things when problems arise. Okay I will climb down off my soap box now

 

[puppylucy]

I agree with you all - suing, in general, has gotten way out of hand.

I mean, just think about the McDonald's coffee lady or the woman who found a worm in her jar of baby food!

Or even smaller things - there was an article in my paper today (the girl who was the "perpetrator" is actually my sisters good friend - small town!) When this boy was in SIXTH GRADE (5 years ago!) he was in PE and they were playing golf when all of a sudden, as he was leaning down to put his ball on the tee, a ball came of of nowhere, hit by a nearby girl (my sisters friend) Apparently the ball went backwards and sideways

Anyways, last year they sued my sisters friend for 20,000 dollars - and they WON. Now they're like "hmm I think I'll try to get some more money" so what are they doing? Suing the SCHOOL BOARD for not having proper supervision.

Come on! These kids are in sixth grade and there was an accident! ACCIDENTS HAPPEN!

It makes me sad about all the unneccessary suing cuz I don't get to enjoy so many things at school like my parents did. They pretty much took away the playground at my old elementary school

And I know for sure MY kids won't...

Ok, so I'm really sorry, this had not much to do with the article

Such an interesting article though, I printed it out to read again

 

[MalteseJane]

I agree with all of you. Lawsuits here are going way to far. Nobody wants to take responsibility for their own actions anymore and blame everybody else for their stupidity. The sad thing is jurors side with them no matter what only because the other party has money. Another thing feeding all those frivolous lawsuits is the readiness of the defendants to settle out of court because it is cheaper then to go to trial. I am sorry, but this is just encouraging all those people to sue because even if they know they cannot win on trial, they think the other party will settle out of court and they will get money.
I agree also with 2happymalts that a lot depends on the attitude of the vet or physician and how they handle the situation. If you encounter arrogance, you are more likely to sue.

 

[paris'mom]

Originally posted by stini@Mar 16 2005, 01:42 AM
Firstly, I really don't want to tread on any toes here, so please, no one be offended by me expressing a bit of opinion.  But I've never understood why people think that suing will somehow make it better when a patient (human, canine, or otherwise) dies at a medical professional's office during surgeries.

I understand that families go through a lot of emotional pain when a loved one passes on. 

I also understand that if it happened because of a careless mistake, then that should definately be looked in to.

But is taking someone to court really the answer?  Will being awarded ridiculous amounts of money make a person feel less sad??
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[/QUOTE]

I disagree with your opinion. Malpractice is what it is...malpractice. Yes, in every situation, wether it's legal or personal, there are people that will take advantage of the preset rules/regulations. However, malpractice suits are there to protect individuals/patients, and act as a deterant for those in the medical business that tends to not look at their patients as patients, but dollar signs.

If Paris were to die from a naturally developed complication from surgery, I'd grief for a loooong time. However, if I found that it's due to the lack of "due care" is absolutely grounds for me to sue the pants off the vet. Not for financial gain (i'd donate all to prob ASPCA) but as a big neon sign to other vets "YOU CANNOT USE LESS CARE JUST BECAUSE IT'S AN ANIMAL."

 

[Toby's Mom]

 

[stini]

Originally posted by Nichole@Mar 17 2005, 01:55 AM
I always believed in justice until we recently went to court.  To make a long story semi-short 

my husband was working for this guy, who on paper everything looked legit.  Then one day he up and fired my husband for no reason.  When we got all the paperwork together, it turns out he was taking THOUSANDS of dollars out of my husbands paychecks and keeping it (he never paid state taxes--the state has no record of him ever having worked for this company). 

After trying to work it out rationally with this @$$, we were told to go to the IL Dept of Labor over this dispute.  Well, after many months of negations, the judge ordered this guy to pay my husband all the money he owed.  Months went by and we never got the money.  So we took him to small claims court and the guy never showed up!  The judge then agreed with the previous judge and ordered him to pay the money AGAIN!  He was sent notification and still never paid.  Well, I called several law offices and was told that even though a ruling was issued against him, there was really nothing that could be done!  I ended up calling our state representative and she did all she could to help (she had me send all the legal documents to them, the IL Attorney General, the Better Business Bureau, and the IRS).  Do you know what happened?  Every one of those people would not help!  Even the IRS after I sent them documents that he was defrauding the government!

So in the end, he kept the money he stole from my husband, and he gets to stay in business--Where is the justice??? 

We were told that we could place a lien on his business, but guess what?  This guy already has SEVEN liens on his business!  Why does he get to be above the law?

So, basically I learned that I will never sue again, even when I know I am right.    We ended up LOSING money for all the court costs and misc. stuff.  Talk about learning the tough way. 

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[/QUOTE]

So, he stole money from you, and the justice system shrugs and goes, "There was really nothing that could be done."

I can't believe the kind of stuff they let crooks get away with.

I can't help but think, though... he'll get his one of these days. They always do.

 

[MalteseJane]

Well, if the guy does not have any money there is nothing ANYBODY can do short of locking him up. How many people do you have who declare bankrupcy to not to have to pay what the courts told them to ?

Nichole I know it's very frustrating but if the other party has no money it's not worth suing. The only thing it does is costing you more money. We had a fall out with our architect many years ago and we went to court. I told our lawer, it's not the money, it's the principle. And his answer was : principles cost a lot of money.