Comments on: “That’s how they boost their billables” https://www.overlawyered.com/2007/06/thats-how-they-boost-their-billables/ Chronicling the high cost of our legal system Wed, 13 Jun 2007 00:49:56 +0000 hourly 1 By: david Hardy https://www.overlawyered.com/2007/06/thats-how-they-boost-their-billables/comment-page-1/#comment-7665 Wed, 13 Jun 2007 00:49:56 +0000 http://overlawyered.com/wpblog/?p=4992#comment-7665 A doctor friend of mine made a related point: the best insurance against a malpractice suit is a family that sees that you honestly cared about the person and did your best. If they see that, they’ll overlook an honest error, figure we’re all human. It’s when they see someone as nasty or uncaring that they start thinking things over and looking for an attorney. When my ex died, the oncologists talked of nothing but getting a do not rescitate order, and when I asked to speak with one about her condition (she hid it from us), he just snapped that he had a hundred patients and didn’t have an hour to talk about this one (I had in mind more like three minutes). My doctor friend remarked “guys like him drive up my malpractice premiums.”

I know an atty who does malpractice work, and he said a third or half of his cases are generated by hospitals’ billing systems. Somebody makes a mistake and a patient winds up dead. The family writes it off until the hospital keeps dunning them for payment, and the computers turn it over to a collection agency, and they get good and mad.

Staying out of arguments is a great way to stay out of lawsuits!

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