EM liability is a huge problem. Think about it -- we are mandated by federal law to see everyone who comes to the emergency room regardless of whether they can pay or not. Then they leave and have a bad outcome (e.g. bad scar from a lac they got from a knife wound when they were fighting) -- then they come back and sue you because you were the one who got their bleeding under control, made sure there was no neurovascular injury, and did your best to do a primary repair since the wound was gaping, yet realizing that it was at risk for infection because it was kind of a deep puncture wound, so you have him some Keflex too, also had him come back in a couple of days for a wound check, the also remembering to update his Td because he can't remember the last time he got it. They sue you because the guy who knifed them doesn't have any money so he can't get money from him -- you as the treating doctor though have a nice malpractice insurance plan that has deep pockets -- meanwhile this guy never payed is ER bill. Anyway, I could go on and on -- we live in such a litiginous society. All we can do is practice the best medicine we can, speak up on policy issues, fight for malpractice reform, rally for universal health insurance, vote for elected officials who will try to fix these things, etc.
James
