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My Books Too many sex books are filled with fluff. This one isn't. Cast away your preconceptions of sex books as being a rehash of things you already know and hence a waste of time. By reading this book, you will learn things that Dr. Ruth and other sexologists have never considered.
Have an interesting ER story? If I use it, I'll give you a free book. For more Q & A, see my Test your knowledge of ER terms by solving my ER crossword puzzle that was featured in the Prudential Securities Healthcare Group 2002 calendar. Or take the ER-MCAT to see if you have what it takes to be an ER physician. Including my:
Amy reviews ER computer games Introducing a clever new way to safeguard your home from burglars that is inexpensive, easy to use, and even more effective than elaborate security systems.
Tell a friend about this page by e-mail Do you care if wild animals needlessly suffer and die during wintertime? If so, see www.shelteranimals.org. |
* Other physicians who treated this patient were also being sued, but this did little to console me. Some victory! It cost me $5000, one girlfriend, about 600 nightmares, and untold other hours of anguish. This fiasco was ongoing at the time I was applying for a new mortgage on my home, and the mortgage company routinely inquired if I was involved in any pending lawsuits. Since I was, I ended up paying a higher interest rate. OK, the suit was over. Did the mortgage company lower my interest rate now that I was not being sued? "No," they told me, "but you're welcome to apply for a new mortgage, though." Thanks, I'll pass—I'd rather have all of my teeth pulled, without anesthesia. The $5000 was long gone, the nightmares were still reverberating in my mind, and I'd come to view almost every ER patient as a potential lawsuit. So much for my Marcus Welby image of becoming friends with my patients. And my girlfriend? Married, but not to me. Yes, I'd won. You still want to apply to medical school? This, mind you, was a victory. Given that the allegations against me were totally unfounded,
and given that I had suffered emotionally and economically from this baseless
slander, I should have been able to sue the shyster, right? If a man walks up to
you on a street, holds you at gunpoint, robs you of $5000-plus, and
mashes your psyche, he is guilty, and can be sued for civil damages—if
he is not an attorney, who is legally entitled to mercilessly plunder at will,
with little or no fear of sustaining any personal repercussions. One-way battles
are difficult to lose, and attorneys have stacked the deck quite nicely in their
favor. Who permits such legalized rape? The Congress, state legislatures, and
the courts, which are primarily filled with—can you guess?—lawyers!
Surprise, surprise. And when it comes to political OK, let's go back to my original question: why was I sued? Certainly, there was no medical malpractice in this case. Apparently, the plaintiff's pea-brained attorney thought that since there are more drugs to lower blood pressure than the two which I administered, that I should have given him even more drugs. If two are good, five are better, right? Obviously not. There's such a thing as lowering blood pressure too much, and low blood pressure can be far more dangerous than high blood pressure. Had the patient received all of the drugs suggested by his attorney, I agree that he would have had a different outcome: he would have died. This attorney is clearly incompetent, both medically and legally. It doesn't matter that he's wrong and I'm right. It doesn't matter that I did an above-average job for this patient, whose blood pressure reduction was perfect. It doesn't matter that the questionable heart attack occurred several months after I'd treated him. If I, as an emergency doctor, could reasonably guarantee that every patient I've treated would not have a heart attack in the next year, they wouldn't call me "Doctor," they'd call me "God." Since I'm clearly not the latter, I think the standard of care to which I'm being held is ludicrous. But this is America, the land in which the legal profession has warped the concept of justice so radically that innocent people can be terrorized with impunity. Their tactics are simple: drive a wedge between the general population and the targeted group, disparaging them as being the root of societal problems, thus creating an "us-versus-them" mentality in the minds of the masses. Then, when the leaders say "attack," the masses mindlessly comply. Is this America? Or is it at least vaguely reminiscent of another country that was notorious for its internal terrorism? While the evil thus engendered is incomparably disparate, their tactics bear an execrable similarity, and they are both plainly reprehensible. While I know that physicians occasionally make egregious errors for which they should be held accountable, I fail to understand why society places such a singular burden of personal liability upon doctors. To illustrate this disparity, let's consider the case of two professionals who are judging whether or not a certain person is a danger to society. Assume that both professionals concluded the person was not a danger to others, and could be released. If the person were released and murdered someone, there is a strong likelihood that the professional would be sued if he were an emergency physician. On the other hand, if the professional were a judge, he would be immune to a suit for alleged malpractice. If the judge wished, he could adjourn the court and postpone his decision until he had given it a great deal of thought, and obtained the opinions of a number of experts (and called the Psychic Hotline, if he so desired). On the other hand, an ER physician may have to make such a determination within minutes, without benefit of ancillary support, all the while enmeshed in the chaos of the emergency department. Notwithstanding these factors, society allows physicians to be sued for millions of dollars in such cases, but judges get off scot-free. Given the circumstances in which they work, it would be more logical to excuse the error of the harried ER doctor, and to penalize the unhurried judgment of the judge. But that's the exact opposite of the extant laws. Such a chasm of accountability underscores the fact that justice is not evenly dispersed. Another ludicrous disparity in professional accountability concerns the private lives of physicians vis-à-vis judges or attorneys. I recently read in the newspaper that a certain physician faces up to life in prison (!!) because he had sex with a patient. If he raped her, or if she were not an adult, such a sentence would be understandable. But she was a consenting adult** who met him in various out-of-town motels for trysts. For this the doctor should be penalized with a life sentence? It's insane! The punishment is far worse than the crime—if there was any crime at all (heck, murderers usually get off easier!). If a judge or an attorney slept with a defendant, it would make for quite a scandal, but they would never face the prospect of imprisonment for life. ** The patient now contends that she felt pressured into having sex with the physician because, she alleges, he said that he would not continue to be her physician unless she consented to have intercourse with him. Thus, the prosecutor contends, this is tantamount to coercion. What a specious argument! Even if the allegation were true, anyone with a room-temperature IQ would realize that coercion could not be effected in such a manner. Let’s see . . . my doctor won’t continue treating me unless I consent to intercourse, and that’s not something I want . . . oh, what should I do? This is obviously not one of the great mysteries of the Universe. The answer is simple: fire the guy, and get another doctor. Duh! Read another example of a frivolous lawsuit For an excellent analysis of what should be done about frivolous lawsuits, see: www.balancedpolitics.org/editorial-frivolous_lawsuits.htm Back to the Dr. Pezzi interview
If you want a beautiful garage that is easy to keep organized, see the GarageScapes web site: www.GarageScapes.com.
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Copyright © 1995 - 2008 by Kevin Pezzi, MD. All rights reserved.
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