You mean like this bit of self-important dribble, to-wit:



Babble on?  I'm just following your lead, without all the baseless assumptions and warped inferences of course.[:P]

I heard there were worse problems with malpractice litigation in Louisiana last year, with a lot of OB/GYNs leaving the state . However in NY now Doctors have managed to carve out some special exceptions that provide them protection that no one else gets that make it a bit tougher to bring malpractice suits here. I've both defended doctors and sued them for malpractice. To be honest malpractice cases have become such a PIA here, regardless of merit, most guys either won't do them or refer them out to firms that specialize in them (some of whom have doctors on staff). Sometimes there is a crisis, sometimes doctors are just carving out special exceptions for themselves. And remember there would be no malpractice cases if there weren't "expert" doctors willing to say that the defendant doctor did something wrong...

And if you see your car insurance premiums going up and want to string up the nearest TV ambulance lawyer, guess what, he's most likely got doctors that he works with regularly who are "known' to be willing to provide the necessary testimony in a case. Insurance companies have the same kind of guys. There used to be a group of doctors who once a month would travel from a certain large city to examine patients for insurance companies that were providing them no fault insurance. Surprisingly these doctors were much more likely than the local doctors to find that the people were faking and should receive no further treatment.

Medical Profession has, in the past, been it's own worst enemy, in many cases, for failing to police itself (I think this is improving somewhat). There was a physician I knew of who routinely performed a procedure that did nothing (no good no bad) because it was profitable. He did lose his priviledges a few places that wouldn't put up with him but it was years and many procedures before he was stopped.

As far as frivoluos lawsuits-let me tell ya something, I don't sue frivolous cases CAUSE YA DON'T GET PAID!!!! Insurance companies rarely pay out for BS personal injury claims, employers rarly pay out for BS sexual harassment claims etc. Stupid lawsuits are a waste of my time and money so moral considerations aside they are bad business. A lot of the whining about frivolous lawsuits is insurance company propaganda to further and further restrict people's right to sue.

Z-True, defense costs are a real problem and often lawyers are offered "defense costs" to drop a crappy case.

A british style system where the losing plaintiff pays the winner's attorney's fees would solve a lot of problems.

There are mechanisms for fining and sanctioning lawyers who bring frivolous cases, but the standard is pretty high. I have never seen it done except in the most ridiculous of cases. There are also some jurisdictions that allow the defendant to make an offer and if the later verdict is lower than the offer than the plaintiff pays costs of defense (i.e. I will pay you $ 5,000 to settle today if you don't take it and get a $ 4999 verdict against me after trial you pay my attorney's fees). i have rarely seen these mechanisms used and have not been impressed that they are effective.

Not without a retainer...