Leave Florida while you still can

[Fantasy Sports]

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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...=/ap/20041125/ap_on_he_me/medical_malpractice

Honestly, three strikes and you're out makes no sense at all. I guess Floridians have decided that they want to fly to Atlanta any time they need a: 1. ob/gyn 2. neurosurgeon 3. cardiac surgeon 4. ANY major surgery 5. emergency care

Three strikes has as much to do with the specialty one is in as well as the type of patients treated as it does physician competency. Here's an idea: how about when a lawyer fails in 3 malpractice cases, he is disbarred in all US states and can never practice again. How do you like dem apples?

And what I dont get is all these Republicans are saying "oh Republicans are pro-doctors blah blah blah" Well let's take a look at the state government:

1. Republican Governor 2. 84 Republicans, 36 Democrats in the House 3. 26 Republicans, 14 Democrats in the Senate.

If the state government really wanted to, they could figure out a way to pass another bill to someone mitigate the effect of this, but I have a feeling that Republicans are as whipped by lawyers as Democrats are-- otherwise this situation would never have occured (I mean, I don't see California or Massachusetts about to go nuclear on doctors, do you?). So party has nothing to do with this- both parties have betrayed us in the worst way.

In any case, the best way to enact change is to show the nation how big a disaster such a policy is. And one way is to vote with our feet. Get out of Florida while you still can. And when people from Miami realized they have to fly 3 hours to give birth, then they will realize how they have been deceived by lawyers.

This is not a minor occurrence. Florida is one of the big 5 states, and scumbag lawyers are likely to try to pass legislation in other states mimicking Florida. Doctors have been terrible in the past about organizing politically, so let this be a wakeup call. Dirty malpractice lawyers are out for our blood, and its about time we showed them how bad things get when you drive doctors away. Vote with your feet, write your congressman. If you're from Florida or go to a Florida medical school, write editorials explaining how in the long-run, you are going to drive away a whole generation of doctors who will choose to practice in another state-- a veritable disaster considering the rising age of baby boomers in the state.

To be honest, I was initally against the few AMAers who suggested we stop treating malpractice lawyers and their families. Now, Florida doctors have a good reason not to, they only have 3 strikes and its much more likely for a malpractice lawyer to sue them than not. Might as well save that "strike" for a rainy day.

Anyway, sorry for rambling, but Im infuriating by reading this and Im not even from Florida, and I sure as hell will never live there now. Wondering what other ideas and opinions are out there on the best way to act.

But all you Floridians out there, best of luck in fighting the mofos. And if you guys can get a three strikes bill movement against malpractice lawyers, you can save yourselves. And if not, dont worry. Georgia and the Carolinas are pretty nice states too =) Best of luck!

 

[Quynh2007]

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[Medikit]

I thought maybe three hurricanes were about to converge

 

[americanangel]

I'm from FL and when the three strikes your out went up to vote earlier this month, most people really didn't know what they were voting for! On the ballot, there was also a cap for that amount of money that a lawyer can collect from a malpractice case, most people beleive that this amendment and the three strikes your out were some how related. To make matters worse, most people didn't think about the frivolous lawsuits that could cause a doctor to lose his/her license in the state. Now I would love to do either pediatric neurosurgery or pediatric heart surgery and now this whole three strikes your out deal is really unnerving.
Now I can understand how the government would want to protect people from stupid doctors (by stupid I mean the ones that really don't care, all the ones with the horror stories you heard about) and I think that's all the government was looking at. They forget all about the doctors that get caught up in the mess accidently. Now in the state, this whole amendment includes doctors who might have seen the patient even if it wasn't for the same condition. Okay, my bio prof was saying that her doctor is caught up in the middle of a malpractice suit even though he didn't do anything. A patient of his cut her hand and went to the ER, the ER doc stitched her up. Later she went to a hand doc and he said that she cut her tendon or something and needed surgery. In the meantime she went to my prof's doc to get the stitches out, mentioned nothing of the tendon problems and is now suing the ER doc and my prof's doc for malpractice.
Honestly, healthcare is crazy and now this whole deal in Florida is just going to make this worse the way it is. I know that from talking to people in the hospital, OB/gyn and neurosurgeons can't even get insurance in the state!!!
Your definately right, though, people will be flying to Georgia to get good healthcare soon!!!

 

[LiNk]

Of those 3 amendments we did get one passed that favors the patient
#3- the patient gets 70% of the first $250k awarded and 90% of anything after that.
If voters even attempted to read up on the amendments beforehand they would've seen that trial lawyers had stake in 3 of them- so why did people vote in favor of the lawyers? Floridians don't get the big picture. "Oh yeah, 3 strikes sounds like a good one, why should those doctors have more chances?" Well what if the 3 strikes happened over 30 years, what about the frivolous lawsuits, what about the fact that lawyers are in support of this amendment. Shouldn't that tell you something!

Florida was only 1 of 4 states that put tort reform on the ballot.... maybe not such a good idea. I would be nervous about it next time b/c clearly people are clueless. Unless all their docs move to other states...

 

[leechy]

Wow, I'm astonished at this news from Florida. I can't believe that people voted for this measure! Floridians will definitely have to start going to Georgia to get their babies delivered and their hearts fixed. How sad. I'm beginning to think that democracy only works when people are well-informed about the issues. I guess people don't understand that malpractice suits aren't just something that inept doctors face; even the best physicians face them as a matter of course.

 

[americanangel]

Of those 3 amendments we did get one passed that favors the patient
#3- the patient gets 70% of the first $250k awarded and 90% of anything after that.
If voters even attempted to read up on the amendments beforehand they would've seen that trial lawyers had stake in 3 of them- so why did people vote in favor of the lawyers? Floridians don't get the big picture. "Oh yeah, 3 strikes sounds like a good one, why should those doctors have more chances?" Well what if the 3 strikes happened over 30 years, what about the frivolous lawsuits, what about the fact that lawyers are in support of this amendment. Shouldn't that tell you something!

Florida was only 1 of 4 states that put tort reform on the ballot.... maybe not such a good idea. I would be nervous about it next time b/c clearly people are clueless. Unless all their docs move to other states...

You got that right!!!

 

[Dr Turninkoff]

from what i understand, the three strikes law will only directly affect about a dozen practicing physicians in florida. the problem isn't about the number of physicians that will get 3 strikes and lose their license. the problem is the anticipated rise in lawsuits. instead of risking a strike, doctors will settle before going to court. for the lawyers, this is outstanding, as they get money and don't even have to go to trial. apparently, the doctors really pissed them off by getting tort reform on the ballot, so the three strikes ammendment was the lawyers' attempt to screw the docs. when i voted on all 12 pages of ammendments in florida, i found the wording to be terribly unclear. in fact, the only reason that i knew which way to vote was because i knew the issues beforehand. for the vast majority of people who come from lower educational backgrounds, the choices were very unclear. furthermore, it seemed as if you had to vote on all of the ammendments to finalize your vote. this makes no sense for people that don't know the issues. i even had to ask a polling worker how to cast my vote without filling in some of the pages. just my two cents.

 

[Stitch626]

from what i understand, the three strikes law will only directly affect about a dozen practicing physicians in florida. the problem isn't about the number of physicians that will get 3 strikes and lose their license. the problem is the anticipated rise in lawsuits. instead of risking a strike, doctors will settle before going to court. for the lawyers, this is outstanding, as they get money and don't even have to go to trial. apparently, the doctors really pissed them off by getting tort reform on the ballot, so the three strikes ammendment was the lawyers' attempt to screw the docs. when i voted on all 12 pages of ammendments in florida, i found the wording to be terribly unclear. in fact, the only reason that i knew which way to vote was because i knew the issues beforehand. for the vast majority of people who come from lower educational backgrounds, the choices were very unclear. furthermore, it seemed as if you had to vote on all of the ammendments to finalize your vote. this makes no sense for people that don't know the issues. i even had to ask a polling worker how to cast my vote without filling in some of the pages. just my two cents.

that's really terrible...I think the money connection between trial lawyer lobbying groups and politicians is absolutely reprehensible.