Valleywide Legal Blog

Drug Costs Continue To Soar.

I have often written about the fact that drug prices in the United States are a disgrace.  See here and here.  We pay more for the same drugs than anyone else in the world.  A recent article in the New … Read More

Posted in drug companies, General Health, Health Care Costs, Health Insurers, Medical Costs, medical research, 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 |

Malpractice Myths Don’t Match The Facts.

Last week I wrote about a study which examined over 20 years of reports to the National Practitioners Data Bank about payments made on behalf of doctors to resolve medical malpractice claims.  I discussed the study findings about the most … Read More

Posted in disclosure of medical mistakes, Doctors, Health Care Costs, Lawsuits, Malpractice caps, Malpractice costs, Medical Costs, medical errors, medical ethics, Medical Malpractice, medical malpractice cases, medical malpractice damages caps, medical malpractice lawsuits, medical mistakes, Medical Negligence, medical research, plaintiff, Secrecy, tort reform |

Happy New Year – Big Pharma Is Raising Drug Prices Again And People Are Dying As A Result.

The price of drugs has been going up and up for the last 20 years as the big drug companies have raised prices over and over again for no reason other than a desire for record profits.  No one in … Read More

Posted in drug companies, General Health, Health Care Costs, Health Insurers, healthy living, Medical Costs, medical ethics, Pharmacies, Rationing |

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 |

Generic Drug Price Fixing.

“Generic” is the name given to drugs that are not protected by patents.  Anyone can make a generic drug.  Because they are not protected by patents, it is anticipated that competition will drive down the prices of generic drugs to … Read More

Posted in drug companies, Fraud, Health Care Costs, Health Insurers, Lawsuits, Medical Costs, Medicare, Secrecy |

The Problem With Drug Prices.

There was a good story in the Washington Post earlier this week discussing some of the reasons for our high drug prices.  So why are prices so high?  Why doesn’t our vaunted free market system drive them lower through competition?  While … Read More

Posted in drug companies, Health Care Costs, Health Insurers, Hospitals, Medical Costs, medical research |

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 |