Tort “reform”
As a daily newspaper reporter for more than 25 years, I’ve learned to be wary whenever I hear the word “reform.” In today’s America it usually means making things worse for average people like me.
Mental health “reform” here in North Carolina took a system that was working and shut it down. It wasn’t perfect, but it did work for the most part. The public system was privatized and now fewer people have fewer options. Waiting times for treatment continue to grow and our state psychiatric hospitals are falling apart with too little staff and too many patients. The state continues to make policy decisions that don’t make sense as the system sinks deeper into crisis.
So, whenever I hear someone talk about tort reform, I figure it’s bad news for the little guy. Now I know my instincts are right. It’s not about preventing outrageous awards by juries, although that’s what they’ll tell you. What it’s really about is protecting practitioners, hospitals, insurance companies and pharmceutical companies from having to pay for their mistakes.
I don’t want money for my son’s death. What I want is for someone to admit it’s wrong to not inform a patient of a life-threatening medical condition. I can’t even get that. I can almost see the doctor shimmying around in gold lame pants like MC Hammer, singing “Can’t touch this.”
Patient Pals & Family Friends
Life o' Mike has a peer support program for people with one or more serious or chronic medical issues or disabilities.
We aim to reduce isolation and fear among people who have conditions, including psychiatric illness, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, mild dementia or other cognitive disorder or disability, thereby reducing depression and complications as people learn to improve self-management of their medical conditions.
Patient Pals help alleviate feelings of isolation and frustration. They can help people develop a list of questions to ask the doctor and then accompany the person to the doctor to make sure all the questions are answered, taking notes to be sure the person understands the doctor’s answers.
Our trained volunteers also accompany their “Pals” to art exhibits, movies and walks outdoors, meet for coffee, call to check in and more.
Our Pals have experienced weight loss, improvement in diabetes, HIV, psoriasis, depression and more, just because they have someone who cares about them. Some relationships develop into longer-term friendships; other Pals move on to more independent lives.
Family Friends are there to help caregivers and other family members grow into their new role.
We need volunteers, who are asked to donate a minimum of one hour a week. Training is free and includes information on active listening, ways to help and when to know more help is needed.
And of course, we need funding.
To learn more, call Leslie Boyd at 828-243-6712 or e-mail lifeomike@gmail.com.
People hear about so much “frivolous lawsuits” that they think anyone suing must be in the wrong: The kind of people who sue are just out for a quick buck. And the lawyers who take personal injury and malpractice cases are just money-hungry ambulance chasers. Doctors, hospitals and insurance companies are perfect and never make mistakes ever.
Tort reform does nothing but take away checks and balances from our medical system. The doctors know how difficult it is to sue them and they act accordingly. Why should they take care of patients properly when they know there won’t be any consequences if they don’t?
I spoke with a lawyer about Mike’s case a few years ago, when he first starting getting treatment at Duke. This lawyer told me that because they didn’t kill Mike, we didn’t have a case even though it was obviously malpractice. He told me about another case in Georgia that actually went to court. The insurance company told the ER doctor accused of malpractice to settle but he refused. This ER doctor treated a paramedic (who was brought in by his fellow paramedics) for muscle pain even though he was actually in the middle of a heart attack. The paramedic died from the heart attack that the ER doctor would not treat but the ER doctor still won the case.