Healthcare: Crisis in Quality-Not Cost
I believe the public at large has for decades laboured under the impression that here we enjoy the best medical care available (Untrue. By most measures both Germany and France do better). Perhaps this is the reason that despite the real problems Americans have faced because of the increasing cost of health care the debate to day is chiefly focused on how to pay for it and how to maintain the choices we now have.
The cost of health care has increased because health care is a business and at some level those with the power to decide where the money flows have no more interest in the wellfare of patients than Ford motor company had in the safety of auto passengers when designing the Pinto (inexpensive part would have prevented death by fire but the Ford board decided that they would rather pay off victims and their families who filed claims than prevent the fires).
According to the Institute of Medicine, 100,000 deaths due to medical care are preventable.
Medicare has recently floated an interesting concept. They will not pay for the care resulting from preventable incidents.
We should be addressing the quality of care. The cost of care will then take care of itself.
Tue Aug 04 2009 13:02:30 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time) Comment to NPR http://bit.ly/sFhSs
I was treated for BPH by a urology group in my area from 1994 to
February 9, 2009. for the first 11 years i saw the urologist once a year and took one medication Hytrin 5MG one before bed daily. In December 15, 2005, they performed surgery on my bladder . I am now catheterizing
myself three times daily and have been doing it since October, 2008 .
I believe that I have total incontinence as a result of that surgery and have muscle damage to my sphincter muscle and have a Neuorgenic
Bladder that is causing the the problems I am having at the present
time and am a prisoner in my own home for I cant go anywhere they have
ruined the quality of my life. life I have no life because their treatments.
I cant find any legal help because they tell me in Pennsylvania the statue of limitations comes in to play, but I believe I have a discovery issue,
but they wont help me get justice from them.
Please Help Me – I am 100% disabled , widowed 83 yrs of age and live alone they have destroyed my life. Please help Iwould be eternally
grateful if you can Sincerely Angelo
Angelo,
There is a discovery exception to the statute of limitations in Pennsylvania. However, You provide inadequate information for me to make any determination that the exception applies to the facts of your case. If they did surgery on your prostate in 2005 and that surgery was followed by incontinence which was present in 2005, you had a duty under Pa. law to conduct an investigation to determine the cause. You should consult a lawyer privately to discuss such matters. If there was a negligently caused injury which resulted in your incontinence but the incontinence did not occur until much later and a reasonable person would not have had any cause to believe that the incontinence was related to the surgery and you discovered within the last two years for the first time that the surgery was the cause, the discovery rule would salvage to matter. The true facts determine your rights. You need to share them with a lawyer.
For more information on the Pennsylvania statute of limitations in malpractice cases visit href=”https://www.pamedmal.com/malpractice-discovery-rule.html”>website. href=”https://www.pamedmal.com/malpractice-discovery-rule.html”>website.
please help me Angelo