The Old Folks Home

[ozexpat]

that would be annually...

I remember when the country became Sue happy... Our family doctor used to do everything... delivering babies, tonsillectomy, Set bones... Along with all the other usual stuff like stitches and general health exams... He dropped all surgery when Malpractice insurance went out the roof.

I went on Medi Cal when I had my son... because I needed a Cezarian... I had a Wonderful ObGyn... one of three that would accept Medical. He took very good care of me... The hospital not so much. they sent me home in 24 hours with a strip of tape over the incision and instructions to hold a pillow over my tummy when I needed to get up and about. (I hear that in the years since they have changed that policy Yay for the rest of the moms on Medical)

The only Pediatrician that would take Medical we had issues .... very long story. Last I heard he had gone into some sort of small practice as an administrator... good place for him.

When I say only pediatrician.... I mean only one local to me there were several scattered about San Diego but San Diego is a big place

California has relatively low premiums because there is a cap of $250K on non-economic damages

Aproximately 10% of healthcare payments go to cover doctors MM insurance

Doctors' earnings ranged from about $156,000 a year for pediatricians to about $315,000 for radiologists and orthopedic surgeons. Cardiologists who earned $314,000 and anesthesiologists who made $309,000

Not that much for the commitment and hours on call

 

[Beer can]

Having five kids we've been in hospitals a few times. More than once I've heard doctors and or nurses mention they had been on duty for up to 24hrs. They usually take naps but but are woke up everytime there is a problem.

 

[ozexpat]

Having five kids we've been in hospitals a few times. More than once I've heard doctors and or nurses mention they had been on duty for up to 24hrs. They usually take naps but but are woke up everytime there is a problem.

The longest I worked involving direct patient care in a cardiac ICU was 21 hours.

When I transfered to the cardiac cath lab we were on call for up to a week at a time. We would work 8-10 hour days and continue on or come back for emergencies. The toughest of that was 4 call backs with less than an hour in between, we woulod just get home and crawl into bed when the phone would ring. The procedure to stop the heart attck would take 2-4 hours dealing with the sickest of sick patients, very expensive devices and costly, powerful drugs. It got to the point where some staff were zombies so I called other staff and begged them to cover for 8 hours to rest the crew.

In my career as a nurse I have made a few mistakes that could have killed my patients. I have been lucky so far.

 

[Beer can]

Part of the problem I imagine is the court costs. Not related to healthcare but I had a regular milktruck driver get in a bad accident a few years ago. He wasn't hurt but the people that hit him were. He was coming down a big hill on a main road and a large passenger van full of Hispanics hit his trailer coming out of a secondary road, they were hurt bad but no one died. He said the trailer ended up ten feet in the air when it rolled over the van at 60mph. A reenactment of the accident found the van was doing 40mph when it hit the trailer. They said they were stopped and he come down the hill so fast they never saw him coming. I don't know how you go from stopped to six feet out in a passenger van and hit the side of a sixty some foot long trailer going 40mph.
The people in the van wanted the trial moved from our very rural area to NYC because they didn't feel they would get adequate representation here being they were minorities.
I asked the milk driver how it went, he said his companies insurance company settled, the people got a couple million $. What! But they were in the wrong? He said it didn't matter, it was up to the court, the lawyers, and the insurance company and it was cheaper just to settle. ???

 

[ozexpat]

Part of the problem I imagine is the court costs. Not related to healthcare but I had a regular milktruck driver get in a bad accident a few years ago. He wasn't hurt but the people that hit him were. He was coming down a big hill on a main road and a large passenger van full of Hispanics hit his trailer coming out of a secondary road, they were hurt bad but no one died. He said the trailer ended up ten feet in the air when it rolled over the van at 60mph. A reenactment of the accident found the van was doing 40mph when it hit the trailer. They said they were stopped and he come down the hill so fast they never saw him coming. I don't know how you go from stopped to six feet out in a passenger van and hit the side of a sixty some foot long trailer going 40mph.
The people in the van wanted the trial moved from our very rural area to NYC because they didn't feel they would get adequate representation here being they were minorities.
I asked the milk driver how it went, he said his companies insurance company settled, the people got a couple million $. What! But they were in the wrong? He said it didn't matter, it was up to the court, the lawyers, and the insurance company and it was cheaper just to settle. ???

very few civil cases go to trial. mostly because our "peers' are unpredictable.

its not worth the risk of a silly result

the last two cases I testified in settled mid trial.In both cases the docs really did no wrong but were emotional enough that the jury started crying and were favoring the plaintiff

 

[posoh]

In some states juries are allowed to award multiple times the asking amount in damages. In some places, particularly large coastal metropolitan cities, juries will do so just to "stick it to the man." Seen it happen in absolutely ridiculous cases. Yet in truly awful, authentic cases victims get nothing. And not just medical; negligence, accidents, institutional abuse, worker's comp, etc. Sad but true.

 

[drumstick diva]

Posoh, you blend in here perfectly. Seems like you have always been a member of the OFH. That's meant as a compliment.

 

[posoh]

Well thank you kindly Miss Drumstick. I did indeed take your words in their intended spirit. In fact this is a perfect time to say, it's nice to find a little spot online where bad manners aren't the norm, and people aren't trying to out-troll one another. Yes it's in the TOU. But isn't that the case everywhere? Especially news forums. Good grief, you see people laughing at mass tragedy to be coolly rude. They may not agree, but I believe your actions count everywhere. And that Karma's paying attention as well. So mock the school shootings, or airline crashes, or loss of our civil rights to get a reaction from people who don't see what you're up to. It'll come back to you.

But not here. Maybe farm fumes are good for one's mind.

 

[Wisher1000]

Nevermind

 

[bamadude]

Ethanol fumes are good for 1 spirits