Via the TortsProf Blog...OB/GYNs in New Jersey are forcing patients to sign a contract agreeing to give up their rights to a jury trial, caps on noneconomic damages, and any possible punitive damages as a condition of treatment. The state of Utah actually passed a law in 2003 that allowed hospitals to deny care (other than emergency treatment) to anyone who refused to sign a waiver agreeing to submit any potential medical malpractice claim to binding arbitration. The measure proved so unpopular that it was eventually repealed.
I think New Jersey women who forced to sign the contracts (forced being the operative word, since many of them might not have any other options) might want to bring a contract of their own. They should only agree to sign the doc's contract if he or she will sign an agreement promising not to commit malpractice or otherwise injure the patient or to sue her should she fall behind paying her bills. (Doctors sue their patients far more often than their patients sue them.) Then, the patients should also demand that the doctors disclose their malpractice and disciplinary history, any claims payouts, and the rate at which they perform c-sections and episiotomies. And maybe there should be a clause in this fantasy contract requiring the doctors to actually see their patients at the time their appointment starts. That last one, I have no doubt, would be the deal killer.
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