Comments on: My bad https://www.overlawyered.com/2007/04/my-bad/ Chronicling the high cost of our legal system Mon, 16 Apr 2007 15:41:46 +0000 hourly 1 By: Deoxy https://www.overlawyered.com/2007/04/my-bad/comment-page-1/#comment-14058 Mon, 16 Apr 2007 15:41:46 +0000 http://overlawyered.com/wpblog/index.php/2007/04/my-bad/#comment-14058 “I didn’t say that was the reason the suits were brought.”

Yes, you did. You said that they wouldn’t be brought otherwise.

You also said, “There is no suit without negligence.” So… I guess you haven’t read about 80% of the entries on this blog…

]]> By: OBQuiet https://www.overlawyered.com/2007/04/my-bad/comment-page-1/#comment-14057 Sat, 14 Apr 2007 19:48:44 +0000 http://overlawyered.com/wpblog/index.php/2007/04/my-bad/#comment-14057 Perhaps we could give Mr Turkewitz the benefit of the doubt and assume he meant there is no suit without a BELIEF OF negligence.

]]> By: Scott Replogle https://www.overlawyered.com/2007/04/my-bad/comment-page-1/#comment-14056 Sat, 14 Apr 2007 02:48:05 +0000 http://overlawyered.com/wpblog/index.php/2007/04/my-bad/#comment-14056 From a physician’s perspective, David N is correct and should be complimented on pointing out the logic and sensible purpose of such “tort reform”. It is comparable to the Good Samaritan laws that help prevent someone from trying to help a person in distress and then getting dragged into a negligence suit. This doesn’t happen often either but it should be protected even if it takes a law to “allow” it.

Apologizing is an appropriate human response and does not absolve a physician from true negligence but also shouldn’t be used as a weapon by the plaintiff attorney. Practicing defensive medicine under the constant threat of a malpractice suit is bad enough without being able to try to respond to patients in a caring manner when any form of bad outcome occurs. The net effect of threatening doctors in court with their words of apology or condolence is to keep physicians from saying such things. And I thought plaintiff attorneys were just trying to help people…

It’s true that the statistics show that poor communication and misunderstandings between physician and patient are a significant initiator of calls to lawyers but Mr. Turkewitz, in usual plaintiff attorney fashion, assumes the physician is guilty of malpractice and is just trying to get out of paying for it.

Poor beside manner is not malpractice and Mr. Turkewitz reveals his bias when he says that there is no suit without negligence. This is a plaintiff attorney myth. And this doesn’t even address the issue of plaintiff attorney advertising, ambulance chasing, and other forms of manufacturing liability lawsuits.

A better way to put it from the plaintiff attorney perspective would be there is no suit without money to go after. Allowing a physician to apologize without having it used against him or her is basic humanity. Why would the plaintiff’s bar be opposed to that?

]]> By: Eric @ New York Personal Injury Law Blog https://www.overlawyered.com/2007/04/my-bad/comment-page-1/#comment-14055 Fri, 13 Apr 2007 13:49:03 +0000 http://overlawyered.com/wpblog/index.php/2007/04/my-bad/#comment-14055 If med-mal cases are brought based on anger over bad bedside manner rather than wrongdoing, then our med-mal system will punish bad bedside manner rather than wrongdoing.

You have made an error. I didn’t say that was the reason the suits were brought. I said that that was the motivation for contacting an attorney. With better bedside manner, many such calls will never be made, even with negligence. There is no suit without negligence.

Second: While I may disagree with some of the political positions taken by writers in this forum, I have never made a personal attack against any. I don’t know why you chose to put my name in the same sentence with “bizarro” anything. The original post appears on my blog and the folks at a forum called TortDeform apparently believed their own readers may find it of interest and re-posted it.

–ET

]]> By: Bryan M. Griffith https://www.overlawyered.com/2007/04/my-bad/comment-page-1/#comment-14054 Fri, 13 Apr 2007 13:35:07 +0000 http://overlawyered.com/wpblog/index.php/2007/04/my-bad/#comment-14054 In a quick search (medical malpractice w/p (sorry or apolog!), it appeared to me that there were only about 10 cases in the country where an apology has played a role at the appellate level. The courts seem to outright reject the apology alone as sufficient evidence of malpractice.

]]> By: Ima Fish https://www.overlawyered.com/2007/04/my-bad/comment-page-1/#comment-14053 Fri, 13 Apr 2007 12:18:35 +0000 http://overlawyered.com/wpblog/index.php/2007/04/my-bad/#comment-14053 This apology stuff really does work. We had a medical malpractice case in the court where I work where the doctor had no malpractice insurance. He barely even had a defense attorney. He was just beginning his practice and had no money, so he hired a criminal defense attorney. And a second rate one at that.

In a settlement talk before trial the judge suggested that the doctor simply apologize in open court and pay just the costs. (The plaintiff’s attorney waived his fee, not all attorneys think they can get blood from turnips.) The plaintiff accepted the offer.

The doctor apologized, him and the plaintiff started crying, and quite ironically, everyone was happy.

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