Amarin Corp Plc (AMRN)

[jessellivermore]

KCSVEN...

I appreciate your comments...What I am saying is that capping settlements has little effect on doctors practices (defensive medicine)..because it is the insurance companies that pay the settlements (in all but the rarest of cases) and the doctors do not care what the settlement is..what they care about is the other effects on their reputations...

Case in point, in the 90s I was sued by a patient who went into anaphylactic shock during anesthetic induction before a facelift. She was in respiratory and circulatory arrest..with arterial PO2 in the 50s and no detectable blood pressure..She was in laryngeal spasm and required a emergency tracheotomy done on a massively swollen head and neck..Resuscitation continued over 45 minutes and she was stabilized and transferred to a general hospital..During the trach she sustained an injury to one of her nerves which led to slight change in her voice..

The case was reported to the Medical Board who conducted an investigation..I was cleared of all wrong doing and the board felt my performance was exceptional and lifesaving...The patient sued and the my malpractice carrier decided to settle out of court, but it went down on my record (my first) and it remains there today..and it still troubles me...

Malpractice is inherently unfair. Medicine is a human activity that is too complex always do the correct thing or to avoid the unlikely...These issues should be keept inside the medical profession and judged by clinicians...and only sent outside when the treatment is truly egregious. Patients could be compensated without have to find scapegoats, at a much less cost..

":>) JL