[fabsroman]

I'd still be willing to sit down with you and have a drink too. I would even discuss health care with you, so long as you remain civil about it and don't insult my profession. Believe it or not, just like doctors have a code of conduct they need to follow, so do attorneys. Of course, not all of them follow that course of conduct.

Regarding who should pay for health care for all, if you aren't willing to pay for it, then why should I be willing to pay for it just because I have worked hard to get myself into the "rich" category? That is the tough one. Medical providers want to have more time to spend with patients via reduced paperwork, but I wonder about that. Would they spend the additional time gained through reduced paperwork with more patients or just doing more procedures and making more money? Probably the latter.

Just like any good business, health care providers need to learn how to negotiate this very litigious society that we live in. Small business owners in almost every area of work, and EVERY large company, have attorneys that they consult all the time. Same goes for doctors. Have you ever heard a doctor say "My attorney taught me how to practice medicine". I've even seen signs like that.

How a plaintiff could possibly win a lawsuit when the risks are explained to the plaintiff, the plaintiff signs off on a piece of paper acknowleding the risks, and the doctor performs the procedure and follows due care, I have no idea. I know I wouldn't award the plaintiff a thing in compensation under those circumstances. I have a theory of how this happens. Only the unemployed people want to sit for jury duty because the $15 a day just isn't worth it to the rest of us. Imagine losing a week or two worth of pay to sit on a medical malpractice jury and get $75 to $150 for those 2 weeks of your time. What they should do is pass a law that states employers have to provide paid time to their employees for jury duty and self employed individuals will be reimbursed by the Court at $200 a day. Then, we might have some intelligent people on the jury.

If you don't think there are doctors out there recommending stuff that does not need to be done, then you are kidding yourself. 10 years ago, I had a dentist recommend that I have the sides of my teeth drilled and filled in because they were worn down from brushing too hard. It was something like $4,000 to $5,000. I declined. My next dentist advised that I use a spin brush instead of the self powered toothbrush, and guess what, the status quo has remained and I haven't had any problems. When I graduated college, I went to a dentist and made the mistake of putting down that I had not been to the dentist in 6 years. All of a sudden I had 10 cavities. Alright, that was back when I was dumb and naive in 1993. I had all 10 filled. Since 1993, I have yet to have a cavity, only some of those fillings crack and fall out. Almost 20 years without a cavity, but tell a dentist that I haven't been to see a dentist for 6 years and I end up with 10 cavities.

I just went through a pretty bad health ordeal in September and October of 2009. It was terrible arthritis in almost all my joints with terrible night sweats, 103 degree fevers, and terrible fatigue. I could hardly stay awake for 3 hours. Over those 2 months I saw 6 different doctors, had 10 doctor appointments, had blood drawn and tested 5 times (with one occassion requiring blood to be drawn out of both arms), had $5,000 worth of testing done (which I only had to pay $700 for thankfully), and they never really knew what was wrong with me. My infectious disease doctor finally prescribed anti-biotics for Lyme at the end of September and I started feeling better in a week. Then, at the end of October he sent me to a rheumatologist because my creatin level was high and he was worried that I might have a kidney infection and not Lyme. However, I was starting to feel great. Went from 30% to 90% and was starting to work regular hours again. Anyway, the rheumatologist did another blood test for my kidneys which came back normal and then he told me he though I had reactive arthritis which is treated in the same manner as Lyme disease. Nobody knew anything for sure though. All I know is I spent over $1,200 for this and I had insurance. God help people that aren't rich and do not have insurance.