Prepare to watch obstetrics implode in Maryland

[ichy]

In a little bit over a month two massive malpractice awards have been awarded by idiot juries in this state.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/health/bs-md-ci-malpractice-award-20120626,0,742808.story

http://www.baltimoresun.com/health/maryland-health/bs-md-ci-harbor-verdict-20120731,0,3487287.story

These two cases alone add up to $76 million in damages, even though in both of them it hardly appears that the doctor or hospital was at fault. One of them was a home birth disaster where the couple showed up at the hospital's doors after things had already gone wrong. The other one was a premature birth that the scumbag lawyers said was actually the result of oxygen deprivation (never mind the fact that there was NO evidence of hypoxic damage to the kid.)

It's no secret that I consider personal injury attorneys to be some of the lowest forms of human garbage around, right along with their shithead allies in congress & state legislatures who protect them. At this point I'm actually hoping that there's a mass exodus of OBs from Maryland (especially Baltimore with its particularly ignorant jury pool) and that it becomes impossible to find a doctor who'll deliver a baby. We've let things get to this point so we deserve to suffer some for it.

 

[OutHouse]

why not blame the defense for blowing the case?

personal injury lawyers do serve a purpose, like keeping people accountable for negligence and pay hard for hurting somebody for said negligence.

 

[Pr0d1gy]

When you create too many laws and allow too many frivilous lawsuits, the end result is the suffocation of the nation.

 

[Double Trouble]

In a little bit over a month two massive malpractice awards have been awarded by idiot juries in this state.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/health/bs-md-ci-malpractice-award-20120626,0,742808.story

http://www.baltimoresun.com/health/maryland-health/bs-md-ci-harbor-verdict-20120731,0,3487287.story

These two cases alone add up to $76 million in damages, even though in both of them it hardly appears that the doctor or hospital was at fault. One of them was a home birth disaster where the couple showed up at the hospital's doors after things had already gone wrong. The other one was a premature birth that the scumbag lawyers said was actually the result of oxygen deprivation (never mind the fact that there was NO evidence of hypoxic damage to the kid.)

It's no secret that I consider personal injury attorneys to be some of the lowest forms of human garbage around, right along with their shithead allies in congress & state legislatures who protect them. At this point I'm actually hoping that there's a mass exodus of OBs from Maryland (especially Baltimore with its particularly ignorant jury pool) and that it becomes impossible to find a doctor who'll deliver a baby. We've let things get to this point so we deserve to suffer some for it.

That's nuts. No wonder malpractice insurance is so expensive. Apparently the juries are incapable of rendering reasonable verdicts, the legislature needs to take action to resolve this before they really start having problems.

 

[ichy]

why not blame the defense for blowing the case?

Huh? I can guarantee you that MedStar Health would NOT hire some third-tier lawyers who'd blow the case. Read the articles, it's clear that juries in both cases chose to ignore the facts.

 

[ichy]

That's nuts. No wonder malpractice insurance is so expensive. Apparently the juries are incapable of rendering reasonable verdicts, the legislature needs to take action to resolve this before they really start having problems.

The whole notion of malpractice cases being decided by juries is idiotic. Americans are laughably scientifically illiterate, and the average Baltimore juror probably couldn't pass a middle school science class. They have no business deciding cases like this. Whatever though, I don't want kids so it's not like I care if it becomes impossible to find an OB in Maryland.

 

[Texashiker]

These two cases alone add up to $76 million in damages, even though in both of them it hardly appears that the doctor or hospital was at fault.

Two hour wait to preform an emergency operation? That would be laughable if it was not so sad.

The jury saw the evidence, you didn't.

 

[ichy]

Two hour wait to preform an emergency operation? That would be laughable if it was not so sad.

The jury saw the evidence, you didn't.

Are you this daft? The idiot parents wanted to do a home birth, adn then they just show up at the hospital when things got ugly. Doctors can't just perform c-sections on people who roll in the door demanding one. They have to diagnose what's going on first, prep the patient for surgery, etc etc. The process would have been much faster if she hadn't made the irresponsible choice to deliver at home.

 

[Texashiker]

Doctors can't just perform c-sections on people who roll in the door demanding one. They have to diagnose what's going on first, prep the patient for surgery, etc etc. The process would have been much faster if she hadn't made the irresponsible choice to deliver at home.

Sometimes you do what you have to do.

Irresponsible choice to deliver at home? lol, laughable again. For tens of thousands of years humans have been giving birth wherever they could, in caves, in wagons, in cars,,,.

 

[nehalem256]

Sometimes you do what you have to do.

Irresponsible choice to deliver at home? lol, laughable again. For tens of thousands of years humans have been giving birth wherever they could, in caves, in wagons, in cars,,,.

And for 10s of Thousands of years large numbers of women died in child birth. I wonder if there is any correlation? :hmm:

 

[Texashiker]

And for 10s of Thousands of years large numbers of women died in child birth. I wonder if there is any correlation? :hmm:

And lots of women still die. Is it irresponsible that some tribe on the amazon has their children in the rainforest instead of moving to a city?

If the woman in the article wanted to have a home birth, I do not agree with she choice, but I do support her.

However, the hospital did not preform surgery for 2 hours.

 

[ichy]

Irresponsible choice to deliver at home? lol, laughable again. For tens of thousands of years humans have been giving birth wherever they could, in caves, in wagons, in cars,,,.

I don't know why I even respond to your troll posts, but I suggest you look up what maternal and infant death rates used to be before modern medical care.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Sometimes you do what you have to do.

Irresponsible choice to deliver at home? lol, laughable again. For tens of thousands of years humans have been giving birth wherever they could, in caves, in wagons, in cars,,,.

They didn't have to do it. For tens of thousands of years babies were born at home or wherever and a substantial portion of them dying. The choice was the people involved, not the hospitals, and of course they are supposed to let other people die in order to put these ahead of them, whereupon you would blame the staff for not doing them first.

 

[Texashiker]

They didn't have to do it. For tens of thousands of years babies were born at home or wherever and a substantial portion of them dying. The choice was the people involved, not the hospitals, and of course they are supposed to let other people die in order to put these ahead of them, whereupon you would blame the staff for not doing them first.

So people should take no risk at all in their lives?

Maybe outlaw cars, outlaw swimming, outlaw drinking,,,.

Someone almost drown from swimming, that person should be labeled stupid for such a dangerous act?

Fall off a bicycle and break an arm. Hey, you know riding a bike is dangerous.

We "all" do things that are dangerous. So why single out someone like the mom who decided to have a home birth?

 

[mect]

And lots of women still die. Is it irresponsible that some tribe on the amazon has their children in the rainforest instead of moving to a city?

If the woman in the article wanted to have a home birth, I do not agree with she choice, but I do support her.

However, the hospital did not preform surgery for 2 hours.

I support her as well (even though I strongly disagree with her), but I also think she must bear the risk associated with her decision. As was pointed out, if you just roll into the hospital, you can't just expect an immediate C-section. They have to figure out what the hell is going on, get the room prepped, get an anesthesiologist, get an OB, take care of all kinds of things I don't even know about. Is 2 hours longer than I would expect? Yes, but sometimes things just don't line up. For our last kid, my wife had to have a C-section that wasn't planned, and it still took about 30 minutes to get started even though we were already at the hospital with the doctor in the room when the decision was made. The one thing that is certain. If she were delivering at the hospital, it would not have take 2 hours.

 

[mect]

So people should take no risk at all in their lives?

Maybe outlaw cars, outlaw swimming, outlaw drinking,,,.

Someone almost drown from swimming, that person should be labeled stupid for such a dangerous act?

Fall off a bicycle and break an arm. Hey, you know riding a bike is dangerous.

We "all" do things that are dangerous. So why single out someone like the mom who decided to have a home birth?

Who has a problem with people doing those things. The problem is when you crash your bike and cut your arm open, go home and wrap it up, it gets infected, you finally go to the doctor and they have to amputate, and then you sue the doctor for them taking so long. That is when it becomes a problem.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

So people should take no risk at all in their lives?

Maybe outlaw cars, outlaw swimming, outlaw drinking,,,.

Someone almost drown from swimming, that person should be labeled stupid for such a dangerous act?

Fall off a bicycle and break an arm. Hey, you know riding a bike is dangerous.

We "all" do things that are dangerous. So why single out someone like the mom who decided to have a home birth?

I'm the last person you should chide about freedom of action. People should be able to rock climb. They should not be able to sue because the rescue team didn't get there fast enough. They should be able to swim the English Channel but they shouldn't be able to sue because a life guard wasn't provided. People should be able to drive, but if they are bad drivers then they shouldn't be able to sue the auto maker because there isn't a failsafe. Likewise people who drink and get into a car and kill someone shouldn't be able to sue because it didn't let them drive drunk. I fell off a bike and broke my elbow. I did not sue Trek because they didn't provide non removable training wheels.

My decision to ride that bike. Someone elses decision to swim the Channel or rock climb. That does not give us any the moral right to sue someone for our risk taking. You want it both ways, freedom of action but also freedom from responsibility and accountability. That is what I object to, not her giving birth at home.

 

[Texashiker]

Who has a problem with people doing those things. The problem is when you crash your bike and cut your arm open, go home and wrap it up, it gets infected, you finally go to the doctor and they have to amputate, and then you sue the doctor for them taking so long. That is when it becomes a problem.

I see the home birth in the same category as any other risky behavior people might do, such as bungy jumping, scuba diving, sky diving,,,.

We know there is a certain level of risk involved.

But like you said, people need to take responsibility for their actions.

The parents in the OP will have to take care of a disabled child for the rest of their lives.

 

[techs]

Much ado about nothing.

Every so often a jury goes a little off the reservation with malpractice awards. They NEVER stand.

The occasionally wacky jury decision is the price we pay for democracy.

 

[nanette1985]

Aren't these things usually changed in the appeals?

 

[ichy]

Much ado about nothing.

Every so often a jury goes a little off the reservation with malpractice awards. They NEVER stand.

The occasionally wacky jury decision is the price we pay for democracy.

What a load of nonsense. We could abolish juries for malpractice cases and still have democracies. Every other democratic country in the world manages to have a less litigious medical system than we do.

 

[ichy]

I see the home birth in the same category as any other risky behavior people might do, such as bungy jumping, scuba diving, sky diving,,,.

We know there is a certain level of risk involved.

But like you said, people need to take responsibility for their actions.

The problem is they aren't taking responsibility for their actions. They're suing the hospital for tens of millions of dollars.

 

[ichy]

Aren't these things usually changed in the repeals?

Often the awards are at least reduced on appeal, but even if that happens this case will have cost millions in lawyer's fees.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

The occasionally wacky jury decision is the price we pay for democracy.

Gall stones are the price we pay for palm trees.

 

[DrPizza]

So people should take no risk at all in their lives?
Someone almost drown from swimming, that person should be labeled stupid for such a dangerous act?

That's pretty much the point. Sure, you're allowed to take risks in your life. But, when your family member dies because they drowned while participating in a risky swimming activity, you shouldn't win a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the Coast Guard because they didn't have a pilot and crew sitting in the seats of a rescue helicopter & their response was delayed by a little bit.

Sure, you should be allowed to take (foolish) risks. But, when things go wrong, they were YOUR risks - you also take the responsibility. Very very few women die during childbirth in hospitals, compared to the rate outside hospitals. In this day and age, it's a foolish decision.