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Hospitals face many incentives not to report a disciplined doctor--and not to discipline him at all. A hospital may want to limit its liability by not airing the problem. Or it may be afraid of a legal battle with the physician. And doctors are loath to report a colleague's bad behavior. Consumer advocates say that self-policing by doctors and hospitals is not sufficient and that patients need access to state medical board and NPDB records that are denied to them today...
Hospitals are required to report to their state medical board and NPDB any revocation, suspension or restriction of a doctor's clinical privileges for more than 30 days. But hospitals don't always comply. By the end of 2001, 55% of all nonfederal hospitals registered with the NPDB had not reported a single disciplinary action against a doctor. (Two Kaiser administrators paid nearly $20,000 to settle with the state after failing to report McEnany, and the medical center says reporting procedures "are definitely different...
...heard alarming stories of physicians turning away high-risk patients for fear of litigation, or losing their practice because of skyrocketing insurance costs. Palmeri then observed the civil trial of a Wilson, N.C., obstetrician who was sued after the plaintiff's baby suffered neurological damage during birth. The doctor claimed that the plaintiff had refused to have a C-section despite his insistence that a vaginal birth would endanger both mother and baby. The plaintiff claimed she had received no such advice. Palmeri says he was disturbed to see that "the trial focused on the poor outcome...
Late last year Senator Feinstein began meeting with California doctors in an effort to come up with a national version of her state's malpractice law. California allows unlimited amounts to be awarded for the economic damages a patient suffers as a result of a doctor's error, such as lost wages and medical bills, but caps noneconomic awards for pain and suffering at $250,000. The cap works, Feinstein believes. Nationwide, doctors' insurance premiums grew 420% from 1975 to 2001, while California's premiums, she says, are up only 168%. (Some experts credit the lower premiums to insurance reforms...
...resources devoted to health care--almost 15% of the U.S. economy--why can't somebody just use common sense and fix things? The villain, I believe, is our legal system, which has become a free-for-all, lacking the reliability and consistency that are essential to everyone, especially doctors and patients. Most victims of error get nothing, while others win lottery-like jury awards even when the doctor did nothing wrong. Because of the resulting fear and distrust, doctors and other health-care providers no longer feel comfortable making sensible judgments...