Comments on: Healthcare Updates — 08-22-2011

By: Kipper

Kipper — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 01:20:20 +0000

I guess I just assume these things happen when urgent care is closed (weekend warriors and adult sports leagues that get the undesirable late-night time slots). That’s certainly been the case for me.

By: AnERNurse

AnERNurse — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 13:55:48 +0000

Yea, that’s true if you can’t actually walk. I’m not doubting you- I’ve had a severe sprain where I couldn’t bear weight for a couple of days. It does happen. BUT, at least 95% of our patients limp through the door (or sometimes walk perfectly normally), complaining that it hurts to walk. If you can walk, it can normally wait.

By: Steve

Steve — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 13:28:31 +0000

For the 5.2 million for the 37 year old pharmacist misdiagnosed by his family doctor…I think the plaintiffs have a solid argument for not meeting standard of care there. Obviously I haven’t read the entire transcript and I don’t know the details but with every chest pain referral that we get from a PCP office- I didn’t know they were sending ANYONE home with chest pain without sending them to the ED. I am sure that the PCPs out there will argue that, just like we do, that they send home a lot of chest pain/abdominal pain without mega workups but someone with chest pain radiating up to his jaw with those risk factors? Slam dunk admit and they can send that my way any day of the week.

Also- the initial jury verdict of 4 million was actually reasonable for once if you consider his salary and his age. He was 37, so if you round up and say he would work for 30 more years with an average salary of 100K (google search for retail pharmacy average salaries)- then that is 3 million right there. I’m from PA and Berks county is a pretty nice area so he probably made more than that. I don’t know what’s up with the extra 1 million for the delay in the case. My point being that for once, it looks like an award matched up with the actual damages.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 06:12:50 +0000

NEJM proves the tort system is one of the best lotteries out there. At least for lawyers. I’d take those 1 in 6 odds for a $30,000 jackpot (assuming you’re in a state that limits attorney fee to 30% of the first 100,000). And that’s just the median. Unfortunately, those aren’t great odds if you happen to actually be one of those clients. Or the premium-paying hospital funding the whole operation.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 04:57:30 +0000

When I broke my finger I did an urgent care trip to get it splinted and then an orthopedic hand surgeon follow up a couple days later. No emergency room needed, and certainly not 2 weeks for treatment.

By: Kipper

Kipper — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 18:39:42 +0000

Uh, yeah. I think it’s safe to say that not being able to walk due to a lower extremity injury seems like a real emergency to the typical layperson, not a wait-2-weeks-for-an-appointment condition.