Valleywide Legal Blog

Just Because A Doctor Says It . . .

There is a saying no patient should ever forget, “Just because a doctor says it, doesn’t make it true.”  As I have often remarked before, medicine is a business, and a big one at that, and we are its customers.  … Read More

Posted in Arizona Medical Board, Blood Clots, Doctors, Fee for Service, health, Health Care Costs, healthy living, Medical Costs, medical ethics, Medical Malpractice, Medicare |

Never Underestimate The Corrosive Effect Of Money

When I look back on past blog posts, I am surprised at the number of times money is involved in whatever bad thing I am writing about.  Doctors, people to whom we entrust our lives and those of our family, … Read More

Posted in Defensive Medicine, Doctors, drug companies, Fee for Service, Fraud, Health Care Costs, Medical Costs, medical ethics, Medical Malpractice, Medicare, Secrecy, tort reform |

You Are “Leakage.”

Health care costs go up and up.  Hospital chains get larger and larger by purchasing the practices of local doctors.  These two trends are related. One of the main reasons hospitals purchase the practices of local doctors is to create … Read More

Posted in Doctors, Fee for Service, Health Care Costs, Hospitals, Medical Costs, medical ethics, Secrecy |

Hospital Consolidation Is Driving Up Health Care Costs.

Last week I wrote about hospitals not knowing exactly what their costs were for various procedures.  Without that information, they cannot make informed decisions about pricing.  Without informed decisions about pricing, there can be no price competition.  There also can … Read More

Posted in Doctors, Fee for Service, General Health, Health Care Costs, Health Insurers, Hospitals, Medical Costs, Medicare, Rationing |

Even Hospitals Don’t Know What Surgery Costs.

In August I wrote a post about why our health care costs keep going up and up and up.  We don’t dictate pricing to hospitals, we rely on the market to set a fair price using supply and demand.  Hospital consolidation, … Read More

Posted in Fee for Service, Health Care Costs, Health Insurers, Hospitals, joint replacement, Medical Costs, Secrecy |

Lots of Malpractice – Be Careful Out There.

Regardless of what the medical profession would have you believe, there is a lot of medical malpractice out there.  Many patients are victims but few end up suing.  Most just choose to walk away.  Many more were never told that … Read More

Posted in disclosure of medical mistakes, Doctors, drug companies, Fee for Service, Fraud, Health Care Costs, Lawsuits, Medical Costs, Medical Devices, medical errors, medical ethics, Medical Malpractice, medical mistakes, Medical Negligence, Misdiagnosis, Secrecy, Surgical Errors |

A Cautionary Tale.

Most patients trust their doctors.  They do more research into the restaurant for tonight’s meal than they do into the qualifications of the surgeon who is going to perform surgery on them.  This level of trust without any investigation can … Read More

Posted in Arizona Medical Board, Doctors, Fee for Service, Fraud, Informed Consent, medical errors, medical ethics, Medical Malpractice, medical mistakes, Medical Negligence, Surgical Errors |

Why Your Health Care Costs Keep Going Up and Up.

As I have observed before, we in the United States pay the most for health care yet we rank well down the list of developed nations in terms of health care outcomes.  Why aren’t we getting value for the money … Read More

Posted in Doctors, drug companies, Fee for Service, health, Health Care Costs, Health Insurers, Hospitals, Malpractice costs, Medical Costs, Medical Malpractice, medical malpractice cases |

Third World Medicine

“Third world medicine” is how a local doctor described to me the quality of the care he is routinely seeing delivered at urgent care centers in the Phoenix area.  In his practice, he is often asked to review patient charts … Read More

Posted in Arizona Medical Board, Doctors, Fee for Service, Fraud, Medical Costs, medical ethics, Medical Malpractice, never events, Secrecy |

It’s The Money, Stupid.

I recently wrote about the loopholes in the FDA’s medical device approval process and how very few medical devices are subjected to rigorous scrutiny before being approved for use in patients.  Here is another example of the price we pay, … Read More

Posted in Doctors, Fee for Service, Health Care Costs, Health Insurers, heart attack, Heart Attacks, Hospitals, Informed Consent, Medical Costs, Medical Devices, medical ethics, Medicare, placebo |