Injured ER Patients Can't Find Attorneys, Blame Tort Reform
*Connie Spears died in her sleep on April 29, 2013. A cause of death was not immediately known.
The leg pain Connie Spears felt was excruciating and familiar: She’d had blood clots before, and doctors had installed a filter in one of her heart’s main veins. But at a Christus Santa Rosa hospital in San Antonio, where Spears went the Friday before Memorial Day seeking help, the emergency room doctor ran some tests and discharged her with “bilateral leg pain.” He told her to follow up with her primary care physician.
Three days later, delusional and with legs ...
Comments (8)
greg b
Tort Reform has given Doctors immunity- lawyers will not take medical cases and innocent victims can not handle it by themselves. We were promised our medical costs would drop- they have continued to rise at double digit rates. We were promised our car insurance would drop with the rights taken away with tort reform- and insurers submit 3-5 % annual increases even though in Texas insurers pay pennies in claims for every dollar they collect.
This is a travesty. Insurers bank record profits on the backs of Texas families and when the family is an innocent victim and needs help- they are treated like dirt by insurers- Because of tort reform. In Texas there is no real remedy for abusive claims handling practices that are illegal in other states.
In Texas we are all about protecting insurance company profits and leaving Texas families victims twice- once for the wrongful conduct of another and then after they try to deal with the insurance company. Enough!
Texas insurance companies no force victims to file expensive lawsuits to get any kind of justice- it is INSURANCE COMPANY LAWSUIT ABUSE-
Its high time austin protected the family and not insurance companies and others trying to escape personal responsibility.
David H.
So . . .Victims of negligence have no recourse, insurance companies are protected and medical staff guilty of clear negligence have no liability. The system provides no incentive for doctors or hospitals to implement procedures that would prevent future disasters like the one described in the article. Negligent doctors are drawn to Texas. And just to repeat – the victim lives with the devastating consequences of substandard medical care with no compensation to help deal with their new life. Now what social policy was the Texas Legislature promoting?
Truth Hurts
Excellent, beautiful reporting Ms. Ramshaw.
Every Republican spouting the mantra of "tort reform" should have a picture of each of these victims hanging in each of their offices. They are trading dollars for lives. The right to sue and have a claim heard by a jury of peers should be held as dear as the Second Amendment right to bear arms and the First Amendment right to erect the Ten Commandments on the Capitol lawn.
If there were a real Tea Party in Texas -- protecting individual rights and fighting big government's bail out of big business -- they would be on the side of the victims and against a legislature that's only interested in protecting corporate profits.
Where are you on this Tea Party Caucus?
Truth Hurts
The story also sheds light on an aspect of our two-tiered medical care system. More legal protections for those who can afford health insurance and the negligence standard provided by regular-hours care & less legal protection under the "willful and wanton" negligence standard for the indigent and low-income who disproportionately rely on emergency-room care.
This is the American caste system.
Truth Hurts
Interesting article about the national distribution of pediatricians. No one brings up insurance rates as a factor in deciding where to locate. Rather, low Medicaid reimbursement rates appear to be the most important factor.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/20/AR2010122001306.html
dang
Since there are two sides to this tort reform coin why not disclose your trial lawyer donations? The agenda is clear though there is a lack of transparency.
Abby Lowe
Dialogue about the health of all Texans and their access to care is important. However, this article may not represent the whole story of tort reform. The CEO of CHRISTUS Health, parent company of CHRISTUS Santa Rosa, has blogged his reaction to the article here: http://bit.ly/dJvIQ4. Please use the link to join us for continued conversation about this important topic.
Bill Davidson
I only have one claim to fame, I worked for General Dynamics when
they were big in defence work in Texas. As for sueing: The universities
here in Michigan are cranking out lawyers by the tens of thousands, and
where do they work? If they sue the hospitals and doctors, then the
hospitals and doctors are required to pay higher insurance costs, which
they feel they are entitled to pass on to the patients. It isn't a pretty
future here in Michigan, where lawyers have the upper hand. Keep on
doing what your'e doing, Texas!