Respectful Insolence: A sign of the times
When you hear there is no medmal problem in America, consider this little bit of anecdotal evidence:
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One question that is inevitable is whether or not I had ever been sued. The question usually asked (1) whether I had been sued in the last three to five years (the exact time depending upon the company) or (2) whether I had ever settled a case out of court. If the answer was "yes," then inevitably would follow the request for full details of the case. Last week, I was filling out one of these forms, when I came across the usual question, but its form was vastly different than what I remembered from previous applications in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s.
Has there been, within the past five years, more than one malpractice judgment found against you or malpractice settlement made, with or without prejudice, in excess of $50,000?
Notice the difference. The insurance company no longer asks if you’ve been sued. It only asks if you’ve lost or settled more than one malpractice suit for more than $50,000 in the last five years. The assumption is clearly that many good physicians will not only have been sued in the last five years, but will have lost or settled one case for more than $50,000!
Read the whole thing.
Hat tip to Overlawyered
Nothing like reading tea leaves from an insurance questionnaire.
I can’t believe it took almost two whole hours for CJD to weigh in with his two cents.
Sign of the apocalypse, I tell ya.