“Although insurance policies differ from state to state, malpractice cases are causing doctors to run into several problems,” (Murray,Frank). Absurd medical-malpractice claims are causing health insurance to skyrocket. There needs to be tighter constraints for such malpractice lawsuits. Not only are practicing physicians being affected, but people who have health insurance and patients in need of health care providers as well. The doctor the claim is being brought against obviously will lose money if the case is taken to court.

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The amount of money doctors are losing has increased due to numerous amounts of cases brought upon them. “Cases involving primary-care physicians are not only more numerous than in the previous years, they’re also resulting in much bigger awards”, (Smarr, Larry). But what about the general public who own health insurance, sure enough everyone’s insurance premium will rise. Several qualified physicians are being forced to leave their practices due to the high costs of their malpractice insurance; they simply cannot afford it. This leaves fewer options for patients seeking for a superior doctor.

People will argue that some malpractice claims are necessary and in some cases, that may be true. I am well aware that not every medical malpractice lawsuit brought out is full of crap. However, I am also conscious of the fact that the majority of these claims are made by people who are just simply seeking money. I know this from first hand experience.

About a month ago a woman brought about a ridiculous lawsuit against my father (Mike Guiler) stating that she felt she was due some money for noticing something that caught her eye while watching a taping of her hysterectomy. My father is a well-known and respected OBGYN; he has medical privileges at several hospitals here in Lexington. This woman stated that she wanted to sue him on account that she found it unethical to mark the letters “UK” on her uterus.

At first thought it may seem strange that a doctor would put “UK” on a woman’s uterus during a hysterectomy; that’s exactly what the public thought when they caught wind of this claim, because the news station threw it out into the open without any medical research. If any time had been taken to explain why this marking was done this would never be the huge money issue that it has turned out to be today. The markings are chosen by the doctors to identify the center, the left and the right of the uterus so that it is removed correctly and my father did nothing medically wrong. Doctors have permission to pick what he or she uses as their identifiers. Some physicians use their initials, some use symbols, my dad uses “UK.”

This woman has taken this case to court claiming that this is a malpractice suit. She is suing for the fact that she is hurt emotionally, has sexual problems with her husband in the bedroom, and that her children can never look at a “UK” logo again without feeling immense pain. The fact of the matter is this shouldn’t have been accepted as a malpractice case. This is simply an outrageous claim made by a money hungry patient. The surgery was a complete success and no physical damage occurred as a result of the procedure. My father has an outstanding reputation as a physician and has little to no complaints; he even has several patients, doctors and other citizens who don’t even know him speaking on his behalf.

My father’s case has gone national. Not only is he on every news channel here in Lexington, he’s in magazines and newspapers worldwide. He was even on the “Today Show,” “Good Morning America,” and a few national radio stations. Other national television producers called my house daily asking my father to appear on their shows.

I never thought that a claim as petty as this one would make it this far. My father uses the initials “UK” because that is where he attended medical school and received gynecological and obstetric training. My father loves what he does; he treats his job with his most upright respect. His job is his life and he is extremely talented. My father has been practicing medicine for over twenty years, has been using the “UK” marking for eight and has had no previous complaints about it. Before he used the initials “UK” he used a straight line marking the center, half an X to mark the left and another half an X to mark the right side of the uterus. One of his patients said they did not like his chosen marking, so he changed it to “UK,” the school he is proud to say he attended.

Its cases like these that raise insurance for patients and give OBGYN’s bad names. Cases like this happen so frequently that they have caused doctors of this type to be sued more frequently than any other doctor. “The number of claims estimated against gynecologists and obstetricians a year are set at 22,217. 36.43% of them are solved with money. The average cost of these lawsuits is $216,392”, (Preston, Susan). Absurd figures such as these keep occurring more and more each year. Something needs to be done about this.

It’s not fair that such outlandish claims are even considered in the courtroom. Not every patient should be able to get away with murder. Murdering, that’s just what these money-seeking patients are doing to physicians, murdering them. They are depriving the doctors of the medical privileges they worked dedicatedly to earn. “Runaway juries are driving good doctors out of the profession because they can’t afford insurance,” (Palmisano,Donald). If the guidelines of medical malpractice lawsuits were revised and made stricter, the doctors would be able to afford the insurance. In return, there would be plenty of good doctors available, and no one would have to pay higher health insurance bills for no good reason.

Maybe there is hope. Senates in a few states are attempting to pass bills in prospect to lower the costs of malpractice cases. “These bills, if approved, will lower the cost of lawyers and make malpractice cases more difficult to claim,” (Ostrom,Carol).

People are getting away with too much simply by being selfish. Patients are wrongfully accusing doctors just to get some money out of them. They are doing this without considering what they are doing to everyone else out there. What about those other citizens who are going have to struggle to pay their health insurance bill on time because their premiums keep rising? What about the physician’s family, how do you think they feel?

The lady who is suing my father did not take any of these factors into consideration. She is self-seeking and unjust. This woman is claiming that my father’s choice of using “UK” to mark her uterus during a routine hysterectomy is causing her and her family emotional distress. What about my family, did she take the time to think about what this lawsuit is doing to my family? NO! Not only did she wrongfully accuse my dad of doing something medically wrong, she put my whole family through despair and could care less about it. If there were tighter constraints put on the guidelines for medical malpractice lawsuits the claim brought against my father would not exist.

In conclusion, people are getting away with way too many claims causing insurance to continue to climb and exemplary doctors to lose their jobs. There needs to be higher stipulations and regulations on what can be classified as a legit lawsuit against doctors. If someone was able or willing to screen the lawsuits brought about, insurance would decrease, surgeries and services would be more affordable, and prestigious doctors would be able to keep their jobs.

WORK CITED:

Murray, Frank. “Lawsuits fears fuel strikes by Surgeons.” The Washington Times.

3 January 2003. [Medical Malpractice]

Ostrom, Carol. “Washington state lawmakers consider legislation on Medical-Malpractice.”

Knight Ridder/Tribune business. 21 Feburary 2003. [Buisness&Company]

Preston, Susan. “Why primary care is more vulnerable than ever.” Medical Economics

24 August 1998. [Medical]