Medical Malpractice
Like a well placed decimal point the inclusion of sworn testimony brought new meaning to the claims of insurance company executives that they and the doctors they insure are losing millions of dollars each year due to frivolous law suits. What was presented as a funeral dirge for practicing physicians in the state of Florida now sounds more like elevator music.
If you were looking to catch a deal on one of the hundreds of swanky houses vacated by destitute doctors as they fled the state in search of greener pastures you might be surprised to find less for sale signs than you expected. Among the revelations that came to light after two days of sworn testimony from medical lobbyists, doctors, lawyers and government employees was that if anything there are more licensed doctors in Florida every year.
The Florida Senate judiciary committee invoked the word oath and left opinion at the door. It was a clever strategy on the part of the insurance and medical lobbyists. Tell people that times are so tough that they might be denied medical care not because they couldn’t afford it, but because there wouldn’t be any doctors left in the state to provide the care.
As it turns out Florida is a profitable state for malpractice insurers. So profitable in fact that one insurance company alone was able to make a generous $500,000 donation to the Florida Medical Association which represents Florida’s doctors. Lobbying to lobbyists in effect.
Separating fact from fiction is difficult enough. It is made all the more difficult when one or more groups stands to make a profit from the promulgation of unsustainable opinions. Medical malpractice rewards will be capped in the end, but fortunately the Florida Senate demanded that those crying poverty present a few facts. Those facts turned out to be fewer than the for sell signs dotting Florida’s golf course communities.