Comments on: UK patient: doc hurt my feelings by telling me to quit smoking

By: Deoxy

Deoxy — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 15:07:28 +0000

Considering that until recently I was getting 20 days a year in vacation, sick leave, and “floating holidays”, 27 a year for several years would b a pretty noticable problem. I know people who get even less, and yes, that is a professional, salaried position.

And, from an employer’s point of view, the “particular circumstances” really don’t matter… what matters is that they are paying for a service (his work) which thy aren’t getting. If you were paying for something you weren’t gtting, wll, you’d be pretty put out, too, I’d wager.

By: Zubon

Zubon — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 10:50:27 +0000

Is “137 days off over a five-year period” unusual for most, or was that meant “in addition to normal leave”?

137 days off means a little over one day every two weeks, which is less than I get in combined vacation and sick leave. I do not use all of it, but it is credited to me, and I would be rather displeased if I was fired for using my sick days. An extra 137 days beyond what is normally allowed would be a different story.

By: Deoxy

Deoxy — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 10:16:42 +0000

Ryan Frank made the bst point so far.

As usual thse days, the system’s goal seems to be to put anyone with larg amounts of money in a “darned if you don’t, danged if you do” situation… the better to tak their money from them.

By: jb

jb — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 10:40:24 +0000

Good point, VMS. What we need is a stricter standard for judges to throw out frivolous cases, before we implement a policy that makes suing even more of a lottery. Loser-pays has its place, but only if the right side always wins.

By: Ryan Frank

Ryan Frank — Mon, 25 Dec 2006 21:38:02 +0000

This gets even better if you remember that lawyers also want to sue Doctors for not getting thier patients to stop smoking.

By: VMS

VMS — Mon, 25 Dec 2006 21:32:03 +0000

Loser pays doesn’t look so good in this situation, does it?

By: Justinian Lane

Justinian Lane — Mon, 25 Dec 2006 20:03:04 +0000

So much for wanting to emulate English law, eh?

Sarcasm aside, this again confirms my belief that the problem isn’t with the legal system, but with society as a whole. What can we do to fix that?

By: Bill Evans

Bill Evans — Mon, 25 Dec 2006 15:38:21 +0000

If I had only known. My doctor hassles me every time I visit, to quit smoking. However we do have it down to a brief, “Still smoking?”,
“Yep”,
“You should stop”,
“Yeah I know”,
“What’s the problem today?”