re: #2 BryanS

Gotta disagree strongly. Being on the inside of the biz, there are a lot of docs that should not be practicing. Malpractice history has more impact on getting privileges than anything else. Sure, some shysters take advantage, but you would be surprised much malpractice goes unlitigated. My wife has never been sued. She’s been lucky, but smart, too. But she has had to bail out more than a few surgical catastrophies, then make everything nice with the patient. From personal experience, both of our fathers suffered terribly from malpractice, but both werer retired, so what would they recover under your plan? Their medical expenses? My wife was also a victim. She was discharged with a hemoglobin of 6.5, with an open, infected incision that went 67% around the circumference of her body, and on coumadin. When she realized she was home, she called 911 and got herself readmitted (with “chest pain”!). We think the doctor wanted to get her out of his hair. He’s still on staff, and Philadelphia Magazine thinks he’s one of the best! Non-economic damages may seem repulsive, but there is so little recourse against hacks.