Reply #132: You're right, but it's more complicated than that [View All]

There's no question that expensive lawsuits have driven up medical malpractice rates so high that many OB/GYNs have gotten out of the profession. I don't debate that it's a problem at all. But the problem is much deeper than that. Right now, just limiting the amount of lawsuit damages isn't going to solve the problem in itself. The problem is with how modern obstetrics is practiced. Doctors are doing procedures that put moms and babies at greater risks of the kinds of catastrophic injuries/deaths that result in lawsuit, because they're trying to save time. Scheduling a C-section for someone who has no risk factors is a bad idea from a medical standpoint. Using pitocin to induce labor to fit the doctor's schedule or the doctor or hospital rule that pregnancy "can't" go beyond 41 weeks, or because the mom needs to have the baby by the end of the year so dad can get the tax deduction - all those things happen very regularly and it's a dangerous practice. Most of the common birth interventions that have high rates of catastrophic outcomes are because doctors are trying to rush things. And of course that's not all the doctor's fault, either - doctors have too many patients as required by the health insurance companies and can't afford to have a patient who's in labor for 18 hours. My first C-section was done supposedly for "failure to progress", meaning I wasn't dilating fast enough. I was only in the hospital for 6 hours by the time they decided I had to have a C-section, even though the baby was fine. Oh, and it was Thanksgiving day...doctor was done with the C-section by 5pm and on her way home to a nice turkey dinner. :grr:

Medicine should NOT be practiced that way. But it's one example of how screwed up the health care system is in this country. The less that the powers that be try to spend on health care, the more likely it's going to result in high-dollar lawsuits.