The Vorlon
Vorlon
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« on: October 06, 2004, 02:31:28 PM » |
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OB-GYN s are an interesting point where medicine and the law clash.
Childbirth is, by definition almost, a dangerous time and about 3% of all births have some problems associated with them that are quite serious.
The medical costs associated with a problem delivery can also be huge - half a million in pediatric ICU charges is not at all uncommon.
If the child has on-going medical problems - if we say even $100K a year, this is typically a 3-5 $million lawsuit.
The real problem is that the mal-practice insurance costs have become sooooooo huge, many doctors paying $250K a year or more, that many are simply declining to deliver babies anymore. Those that do also run up huge medical costs in "anti-malpriactice" medicine that has little to do with ealth, and everything to do with not getting sued.
It's a really tough problem finding a balance between punishing legitimate medical error while not massively drivingup costs and driving doctors out of practice.
There are whole states where the are basically no OBG-YNs left in practice.
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