Doctors vs Lawyers

Tsiangkun · Post by **Tsiangkun** » 16 Jun 2004 12:52

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0615-12.htm

What do you think ?

In the United States, it has been the official policy of the government that health care is not a right of the citizens. As such, I don't see a problem with Doctors declining elective surgery to patients affiliated with those that keep medical cost high.

Laws and lawyers go together, they made the system . . . I kinda like the poetic justice of doctors turning down attourneys and their affiliates.

--Tsiangkun

"Jim, I've got bad news and worse news. First the bad news. You have cancer, but it's treatable since we discovered it early. Unfortunate for you, I have 120,000USD insurance premiums to pay because of the laws you lobbied to get passed. Every time I do surgery I now risk my lively hood from large malpractice suits, and your life isn't worth it. I won't treat you, nobody in this network will treat you, and I've contacted every major head of surgery in the nation to put your name on the list of those with a history of malpractice suits. It's not a blacklist, Someone might treat you. It's just that if anything does go wrong, they might want to make sure you don't have the chance to file another suit, you know, instead of doing everything they can to save you." --not a real quote.

FlexThis · Post by **FlexThis** » 16 Jun 2004 15:58

I don't think it's right to mix business with politics in this instance. But I feel the Dr.'s concerns.

I would have to agree that their anger is misplaced. Instead they should start their own insurance company with super low premiums and then pray they don't get sued.

I'm not the biggest fan of lawyers, but this is discrimination pure and simple.

alex · Post by **alex** » 16 Jun 2004 16:16

I'm not the biggest fan of lawyers

That is something I don't understand. Many people claim they don't like lawyers, but is it the lawyers they hate, or the hassle they can cause you if you are sued? (not rhetorical, I actually hope to get an answer) On a side note, its not the lawyer's fault that someone gets sued, its the people being represented by the lawyer. Sorry if I misunderstood your post, but I have close relationships with several people who are lawyers, and wish to know why you hate them so much

HighDemonslayer · Post by **HighDemonslayer** » 16 Jun 2004 23:39

Doctors should be able to deny care to lawyers, especially to congressmen.

Congressmen have special medical benefits, so while they regulate and legislate our first-world medical system into the toliet, they get it all for free.

I have one relative who is an attorney, and I know a few footbaggers are also. So I keep my lawyer bashing to a few jokes and what not.

Lawyers are good at keeping you out jail, sometimes.

-n

HighDemonslayer · Post by **HighDemonslayer** » 16 Jun 2004 23:47

Alex made a point about how it's the people the lawyer represents, not the lawyer itself, that is the problem.

The law is a problem also. I read of some country where the losing side has to pay all associated costs if they bring a frivolous lawsuit against somebody.

That's reform that we'll never see because our lawmakers are mostly lawyers.

I think I'll make a poll about the worst type of lawyer.

-n

FlexThis · Post by **FlexThis** » 24 Jun 2004 12:06

I don't hate lawyers, I stated I wasn't the biggest fan of them. I'm not the biggest fan of doctors either, but I don't hate them.

I feel that although lawyers and doctors a like spend many years studing and perfecting their skills, so do many other Americans (people in general) who will never receive a 1/10 of the compensation their fields awards for their efforts. There is a double standard that equates schooling to success in those fields.

The president of the company I work for has but a bachelors degree in marketing. He makes more than most Doctors, so he would be an exception to the rule. But there can only be 1 prez per company (in most cases), while their may be a dozen lawyers on retainer who are making bank waiting to be of use.

Lawyers - the perverse ones - twist and manipulate the law to suit their clients needs, or flat out lie. It is their job to do so. I cannot honestly respect someone who makes over 300k a year and lies in court on a daily basis. At the same time I cannot respect a doctor who has taken an oath to protect the wellness of others, who decides to black list someone for his or her views.

It is disgusting to think that these kinds of people exist and are regarded as higher class citizens, when they are really wolves in sheeps clothing.

Once again, I don't hate doctors or lawyers, but understand why people would have a problem with them. And I talking about a few as opposed to many.

blackcrown · Post by **blackcrown** » 24 Jun 2004 14:31

Upon graduation, many medical students take a modern version of the oath written by Louis Lasagna in 1964.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hippocratic Oath -- Modern Version

I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, this covenant:

I will respect the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps I walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow.

I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures which are required, avoiding those twin traps of overtreatment and therapeutic nihilism.

I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon's knife or the chemist's drug.

I will not be ashamed to say "I know not," nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a patient's recovery.

I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their problems are not disclosed to me that the world may know. Most especially must I tread with care in matters of life and death. If it is given me to save a life, all thanks. But it may also be within my power to take a life; this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty. Above all, I must not play at God.

I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose illness may affect the person's family and economic stability. My responsibility includes these related problems, if I am to care adequately for the sick.

I will prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to cure.

I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body as well as the infirm.

If I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life and art, respected while I live and remembered with affection thereafter. May I always act so as to preserve the finest traditions of my calling and may I long experience the joy of healing those who seek my help.

Written in 1964 by Louis Lasagna, Academic Dean of the School of Medicine at Tufts University, and used in many medical schools today.

Take care,

Eric

HighDemonslayer · Post by **HighDemonslayer** » 24 Jun 2004 14:40

Here's a question:

What is the worst type of lawyer? Not meaning personal traits like dishonesty, but a class of lawyers (ACLU,immigration, tax, medical malpractice, etc...)

Which type of lawyer will bring it all crashing down, and fuck it up for eveyone?

-n

jon · Post by **jon** » 24 Jun 2004 16:32

I am glad i live in canada.

Tsiangkun · Post by **Tsiangkun** » 24 Jun 2004 16:42

HighDemonslayer wrote: Which type of lawyer will bring it all crashing down, and fuck it up for eveyone?

Patent Lawyers

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » 24 Jun 2004 20:46

My brother is studing to be a lawyer (he's doing a science law degree) and rings me up all the time to tell me about this great case he's studying or whatever. I think he'll make a good one though - he gets in stupid arguements and always tends to win them. One that springs to mind was him getting in trouble in a forum for claiming that all Liberals (an australian right wing political party - currently holding government) are fucktards. - He went on to explain that tard comes from latin and means slow - so being a fucktard means you are slow at sex - which is a good thing.

Um objection your honour - this story isn't relevant to the topic!

Sustained

HighDemonslayer · Post by **HighDemonslayer** » 28 Jun 2004 17:53

"Fucktard"...I like that one.

-n