Doctors Against Malpractice Lawsuits...Until It Happens to Them
It's no secret that doctors are key proponents of protections from medical malpractice lawsuits. That's understandable. Nobody wants to be sued and nobody wants to pay damages.
Then again, nobody wants to be hurt by their doctor's breach of the standard of care.
However, this story from West Virginia is very interesting. A West Virginia doctor underwent surgery last month only to afterward develop a severe infection, abdominal pain, loss of consciousness, and septic shock. Clearly believing that he had been the victim of his doctors' malpractice, he sued his doctors and hospital.
Now, as Ronald Miller of Miller and Zois' Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog points out, this doctor was undoubtedly in favor of medical malpractice protections and damage caps prior to his surgical injury. Is he now?
This illustrates an interesting point about tort reform: most are in favor of tort reform because they don't believe they will be seriously injured by the negligence of another AND they are more concerned about being sued so they wish for the "protections" tort reform provides--even though they cost that same person the protections the legal system provides.
