And Doctors whine about malpractice premiums!!!!!!!!!

If they would get rid of the bad apples in their midst, there wouldn't be a problem.

He didn't get away with it in the U.S. The U.S. authorities banned him from performing these operations, so he moved to Australia. It is on this doctor's record, which he failed to disclose. The trial was held in Sydney.

About 12 years ago, a local neurologist killed my brother. He's still practicing. I couldn't convince my brother's widow to go for the license. She went for money - and got several million in settlement. As long as patients are willing to shut up for money, there will be terrible doctors with the freedom to do as they please.

There are several internet websites that rate doctors and the doctors are not happy about it. Personally, I think they are a great idea and I've found they offer a lot of good information. They are simply patient reviews, so the doctors and their offices are being rated by the people who rely on them and trust them. Apparently the doctors don't want to be judged at all.

Excuse me, He was banned in US long ago, thank you.....he moved to another country and started his bad medicine all over again there. He neglected to mention his US restrictions to his new employers ? Please have facts clear before spouting off against US......

First of all get your facts straight - it is part of their record for a long time, settled, found to be unfounded whatever, I do credentialing for doctors for the last 13 years. Maybe malpractice premiums wouldn't be so high if people didn't file lawsuits every time something goes wrong. yes, there are bad docs out there, but there are more good ones and medicine is a SCIENCE, it's not perfection - please people, you want things to make you better, then bitch and sue and moan when they have side effects. Are you taking it the right way, did you tell your docs about the OTC vitamins or herbs you are taking. As much as there are things that go wrong, when will society start to realize that just because something goes wrong, it's not necessarily anyone's fault. The body is a funny thing, what makes me tick, doesn't make you or the next person tick - so what I take is going to affect you differently.

People don't file lawsuits every time something goes wrong. The Institute of Medicine says there are about 100,000 DEATHS each year from malpractice in the U.S. Yet there are fewer than 15,000 malpractice payments a year for all reasons, not just deaths. So, are there too many lawsuits or is the real problem too much malpractice???

They don't really? Where did you get that information? Just because it doesn't hit the news or go to court, doesn't mean they don't run to an attorney, used to work for attorneys in my last career, so I KNOW they do. I can't control if people file, some people don't want to deal with the headache, it takes MANY years for a case to go to court - people want to move on with their lives. Institute of Medicine - will have to look that one up, in 13 years in healthcare and 8 years as a legal assistant, never heard of that one.

What about the ones who are never turned in to peer review but who are protected or "nudged" to relocate by other doctors and/or hospitals in the area, escaping personal and professional responsibility and leaving patients in their wake?

There are some inflammatory comments about doctors losing malpractice suits when they settle out of court. As it turns out, regardless of guilt, it is infinitely cheaper to settle out of court for any physician. There are thousands of physicians who face frivolous lawsuits and are forced to pay for something just because it makes no sense to pay attorney fees (which are colossal). There are also cases where care is substandard, and there should be penalties for that. I'm sorry but patient reviews are NOT the way to go as far as evaluating a doctor as these tend to be skewed by personal interactions rather than the actual care provided. There are lots of quacks whose patients love them. There need to be hard, measurable guidlines on physician performance, corrected for the amount of disease burden seen in their particular patient population. There seems to be a very negative perceptions about doctors on this forum, I think this is misplaced. There are system flaws we are talkign about here.

Then shame on the docs who don't report them - they should be held accountable - most docs I know and work with would report in a heartbeat, it can be done anonymously -the days of the "good old boy" network are slowly disappearing, with payments going down, costs and malpractice going up, they can't afford to pay the price for someone's mistake. When I worked in the legal field, it took the moving of a mountain range to get another doc to say one did something wrong, not the case now. Not that I have seen or heard of anyway...

That is not true, they have required continuing education that is required to maintain their license, so go to jiffy lube next time you need medical care.

TStudent, perhaps you should write a book: "Quacks & the patients who love them".

chattykak, if that's true that, "it took the moving of a mountain range to get another doc to say one did something wrong", then the MUM doctors deserved every bit of misery they got on malpractice insurance payments for basically LYING, by their silence, for the inept, or-buddies-in-the-system, doctors. pathetic that they would just pass that cost on to the patients who were living on beans.

If you get your medical license in another country and come here, you don't just get to practice medicine. You have to do your residency again here and go through the licensing, just like any other American medical school graduate. I know lots of doctors who had their own practices in England, etc and had to come here and start over.

like the old reading: "attention to all teachers: be careful. the architect covers his mistakes in ivy. the doctor buries his mistakes, but watch out! the school teacher's mistakes grow and join the school board!"

#5 in reply to comment #1's post

Yep, the US has everything.... from bad doctors to idiot posters. We import and export.

There is a national reporting system for malpractice payments, peer review actions, licensure actions, etc. It is the National Practitioner Data Bank. Except for statistics, its information isn't available to the public, but hospitals are required to query the NPDB before granting clinical privileges and every two years after that on every physician on their staff. The information is also available to state licensing boards, HMOs, etc.

Still tho, the unreported ones simply relocate. Peer review is the classic fox/henhouse situation.

Exactly right, Garrick. And it applies to so many things in America: caveat emptor, but either you have no way of knowing, or you have no choice if you want the service (like cell phone service that you have to accept a 2 year contract on before you know if they will provide what they promise).

I just dumped the surgeon my doctor referred me to, despite the fact that my condition is life-threatening. Naturally, I couldn't find any useful information about him, but his nurse failed to follow through on contacting me, then tried to blame it on me. Big red flag, because it's been my experience that no matter what the business -- even the local McDonald's -- if the staff has a bad attitude, it starts with the guy at the top.

If someone is going to take my life in their hands, I'm going to ask a lot of questions and watch every detail like a hawk. At the first sign of imperfection, I'm outa there.

Of course, now everyone involved thinks I'm "difficult." Tough sh*t.

My husband trusted our Catholic Charity based health care system and signed the "consent to treat forms" although the forms were piled on top of each other and only the bottom folded back for him to sign. He wasn't told the risks or the extremely high costs of the treatment he was given. When he later complained, the clinic said "you signed the forms." The doctor told him nothing yet charted that he had "discussed the risks involved at length and the patient understood." He also was told it was up to the patient to find out the necessary information. How? No CPT codes are given to the patient, no fee schedules are available, so how does the patient find out the costs involved? Now, DH feels like an idiot for trusting the doctor and the clinic personnel.

It's really pathetic when you can not trust your doctor or your clinic especially so when the walls of the clinic are decorated with scripture, crucifixes, etc. Again, "good" Christians who do not practice what they preach.

So you sign forms without reading them or asking them to be explained? I NEVER sign anything without reading it - don't care what it is - if they don't like it, too bad. It is the patient's responsibility to ASK QUESTIONS. A good doctor will sit down explain what is going to happen, the risks, etc and make sure you UNDERSTAND before having you sign anything.

As for fee schedules, call your insurance, the contract is between YOU and your insurance. The doctor has his own contract. I don't mean to sound cold, but people need to start taking responsibility for their own decisions, life, etc. If you don't ask questions, then how is anyone to know you don't understand? Yes, again, there are speed docs out there, who shove people in and out, then don't go to them - ask questions, call the medical society for your state, you can find out if they have malpractice cases against them, etc. These things are there if you want to find them.

You can read, reread and study the consent forms all you like before signing them. Most consent forms aren't worth anything. Once your i surgery tht surgeon can do whatever he thinks is best and be protected under standard of care clauses.

Also, nobody is ever really given 'informed consent'. Your best bet is to consult an attorney before surgery, a good attorney.

I have had MANY surgeries. I trust my docs, I know that things can happen in surgery, informed consent means that you are aware that something may change, they may find something they weren't expecting - you have to trust your doctor to do what is best to save your life or give you the best quality of life. An attorney is not going to help you before surgery. Seriously, do you go out of your home, anything can happen anywhere, does your car dealer guarantee that nothing will happen to your car - no.

Do you even know what the standard of care is? Next time you need surgery, and something happens in surgery that wasn't part of your consent, tell your doctor to bring you out of anesthesia to ask you first - solves your complaint. Don't get the surgery - simple answer. Every surgery I have had, it took 1/2 hour or more to do my consents with my surgeons - go thru even the most unlikely scenario and what did I want. Go to LEGITIMATE websites, get information, go for a second opinion, don't know who, call the board for that specialization, call your local medical society. It is YOUR body, if you don't take the time to be informed, ask questions, you have no one to blame but yourself.

Again, there are bad docs out there - I turned in one that I worked for last year for fraud and over treatment - like this article, he was money hungry - it was shameful and illegal, I quit, reported him to the proper authorities.

Call your insurance company for a fee schedule? You need a CPT code!! Have you ever tried to get one from a provider? They give the run around, well, we won't know until it's "coded", etc. I've done medical billing for Medicare in a nursing home for years. The clinics will NOT give you a CPT code before the procedure is done and sometimes even after it is done! For Medicare Part A, it's very important to have so the facility can determine who pays.

My husband assumed the forms were being explained verbally. He was trusting, this is bad, never be trusting. He assumed that the clinic personnel would not leave out the most important parts and only tell him the trivial details. Yes, it was his responsibility, but one used to be able to trust your health care provider. They allow 2 minutes to sign forms, so one gets pushed to complete the paperwork.

Also, you have obviously never called an insurance company. I've called dozens and dozens of different ones. I worked with elderly people, I called to see if something was covered. Only a very, very few would tell me if a procedure was covered. None of them would guarantee coverage without a billing. I have spent hours-literally-hours trying to get a straight answer for a resident.

I talk to insurance companies on an hourly basis. And sometimes no, before anything happens, visit, etc you can't give a CPT code, my office will give you a possibility of what we think it will be so you can have an estimate, but make it clear, until we see what happens during the visit, we can't be definitive.

If they aren't giving you a CPT after done, then there is a problem. you need to set up an appt with their administrator and get this straightened out - that is just wrong. I have no problem, with proper authorization to give it. They may not due to hippa. Some offices are very paranoid and don't realize the true meaning of privacy and what it entails, especially with continuity of care. .

Insurance companies will NEVER guarantee coverage, what if the patient didn't pay their premium? Then if it's cancelled, rescinded, they don't pay. For doing billing, you don't seem to have a clear grasp on how medical billig works. I can call right now, with a CPT for a patient that just walked out of the office with the doc and they can't guarantee coverage. I have a over $3000 in retractions sitting on my desk now from visits in 2009 because the policy was rescinded and even though we called for eligibility on days of service, it was retroactive and we can't file with any other insurance due to timely filing and have to go get from the patient, which is unlikely, in the case of seniors. So what happens, we have to eat it, all those services for free.

I feel your pain. Like I said, hourly I am on with insurances. I don't take their crap, I talk to a supervisor if I have to - the people answering the phone usually have no medical experience or billing experience, so they have NO idea what they are talking about, they are reading off the same screen you are on the insurance company's website. VERY FRUSTRATING!

Boy chattykak, you know everything about everything don't you?

I've also worked in both legal offices and medical offices.

I am not talking about a guarantee in regards to the insured not paying their premium. You were the one who seemed to think it was the patient's responsiblity to get such a guarantee. But, some insurances can not even provide the information of whether or not the CPT code is a covered procedure.

In regards to Medicare Part A, it depends on the CPT code as to who pays; the nursing home as part of the RUGS level or if the provider can bill Part B. This is pretty important to know. Would it be good practice to admit a resident who needs thousands of dollars in procedures that are included in what the home has to pay a provider but results in a $400 a day RUGS level reimbursement? Hmm, 10 days at $400/day = a $4,000 reimbursement out of which the home paid $6,000 in lab work, treatment etc and that $2,000 negative does not even include the per day costs of nursing care, meals, OTC meds, and other overhead costs.

What happened to Enma3 and her husband happens to a lot of patients. The doctors have carefully and consistently done everything they can to intimidate patients, even to the point of making you feel like you are imposing on them when you have too many questions, despite the fact that your health and maybe your life is on the line.

I once had a whole slew of symptoms that I couldn't make any sense of -- numbness, dizziness, visual disturbances, etc. -- and when I visited a doctor's office, the nurse asked me my symptoms. I began telling her, and after a few minutes she got hostile and angry and informed me that they couldn't take care of everything at once and I should just tell her my most important symptoms.

I asked her how I was I supposed to know which symptoms were the "important" ones, since I'm not a doctor and I don't know what's wrong? Then I got up and left.

That's their attitude -- you're nothing, they're God, and you should feel flattered that they are willing to spend a moment of their precious time on you.

And some of this intimidation is so subtle -- for example, the doctor calls you by your first name, but you're supposed to call him/her Dr. ___. When they use my first name without being invited to, I use their first name. It's funny how shocked they always are at my "presumption."

Just remember this: it takes a good memory to get through medical school. It doesn't necessarily require the ability to extrapolate or even reason. I've met some doctors who were so stupid they made me think of idiot savants.

The NPDB includes all malpractice payments since September 1, 1990. It does not include claims which were not paid, so it does not include malpractice cases won by the physician.

I agree with you. A separate State board should review complaints and have the power to revoke licenses! Moving to another state is too easy and puts other patients in danger!

Doctors are almost as bad as priests in protecting their own.

Sounds like the Catholic church passing on their pedophile priests to other parishes.

Where I live almost every clinic and hospital for hundreds of miles around is owned and run by Catholic "charities." I guess what works for one part of the church works for another.

Cub T. RIGHT ON! when you wrote: "others at the hospital should also be arrested". "denial" is a serious symptomof people not being able, or willing, to deal with the TRUTH. lies of silence can be as damaging, and sometimes worse than obvious lies. not that ANY lie is any good. eeeeek.

the name of one of the local doctors in this area: is "Dr. Damage". well, that is according to someone who should know. i met him and felt he was flippant, condescending, and dumb and lazy.

Chad,

Indians are not considered minorities (under represented) in the medical field in the US. They do not get any special privileges in medical school in the US. The bar is not lowered to let them in. I assume this guy did his medical school in India. If so, he had to do his residency and all further training in the US as well as pass the US tests. So, I am unsure what you are talking about.

Chad,

Stop the racist generalization because there are incompetent doctors of every race. My brother was killed by a white male anesthesiologist in December of 2004 who administered too much anesthesia during my brother's hip surgery. The overdose of anesthesia by this anesthesiologist caused my brother heart to stop and his lungs to fail. My brother's wife sued the anesthesiologist for malpractice and received a judgement of over a million dollars in a wrongful death law suit in 2009.

I dont think honesty is prevalent characteristic among my other white friends as well. Stop making generalizations.

BOB & CAROLE, what would happen if the both of you were honest with your friends and TOLD them you don't trust them? "with a big scoop of salt" what a funny expression. sure spells it out different from a "grain of salt".

They are not good enough friends to be honest with! And btw, I've got lying white friends too, but the proportion of my indian neighbors and my possible relatives to be who aren't honest is pretty darn high!

Letterman - are you kidding? Why make unnecessary enemies? Sometimes honesty does NOT accomplish anything but cause ill feelings, and then you are stuck with people close to you who you'll never be able to get along with. These people are NOT going to change. I did call out two of my indian acquaintances but one denied what was obvious (her dogs barked at all hours, but she did start keeping them in at night) and the other is still telling tall tales. We have an "in" with indians and their culture and it seems quite common that appearances are extremely important. You just have to accept it and keep it in mind.

Good post! People assume that Indians, Jamaicans etc got their medical degrees from iffy universities because "they be sum o' them thar furreners." But, there are plenty of WASP doctors who were too dumb to get into a good school and have a medical degree from WhatsamattaU. National ethnicity has no guarantees!

I used to go to this doctor who told me to pray to Padre Pio for a cure because he couldn't diagnose my problem. I chose a new doctor. I'm into Medicine as a science, not "magic."

Passing medical boards for a license despite poor knowledge, is not difficult as most of them involve "multiple guess" questions.

Just because someone trains at the best institution does not mean they are the best docs.

Even the world's best medical schools (or any school for that matter) have 33% of their students graduate in the bottom third of the class . . . .

Where do you work that there is no peer review? That would send a HUGE red flag to me! Our hospital does them for all cases that had a non-optimal result, deaths.

Hey Sherlock,

The reason that we let doctors from abroad into the states, is that we dont have enough qualified people in the US/medical schools for our population. Many people who study abroad as well as in the US are bad physicians. Some of the top docs in this country are from abroad. This guy had to do residency in the US to practice in the US. This is where he learned surgery (with US grads). But we all appreciate, your comment.

Bob

Sure, and no US trained doctor has EVER been accused of being an incompetent doctor. I am sure the US produces excellent doctors as well as very incompetent doctors. Just as other countries do.

how do they know the difference from if the doctor is bad, or the patient can't follow proper instructions? when someone is in head-banger, wall beating PAIN, "as needed" might seem like a step toward overdose without the patient being aware of the time etc.

I once worked for a magazine that had a surgeon on the board of directors. He was stoned on wine and diazepam (Valium) most of the time, multiple DUI's in his Mercedes convertible.

What are you waiting for? Doctors could make that happen much faster and more effectively that us patients!

couldn't agree more....doctors have to take it upon themselves to begin requiring not just binding peer-reviews which should be made PUBLIC once finalized, but also to hold hospitals accountable for not researching physicians on staff. even if us 'nobodies' don't have access to that information, at LeAST the hospitals and clinics could be getting that information. hell, a simple background check will show if you ever even bounced a check, i'd think that a decent background check could show that someone was sued several billion times. and if red flags are shown, perhaps further investigation is required. otherwise, we all pay the price not just with ridiculous insurance premiums, but also with our lives.

c'mon docs, it's YOUR profession. don't let the bad apples continue to hamper the profession just because it's inconvenient, time-consuming or costly. DO SOMETHING. every little bit can help.

be careful, also, on who is complaining. i had a job where whatshername thought i should date her relative....i had too much to do already, and wouldn't want to be caught dead dating that boring person. well, in rather short order, on that job i began having mysterious problems. sneaky complaints i couldn't quite put my finger on. figured it out later.