Watch video, sign away your rights..

Medical malpractice insurers have come up with a devious new way of preventing injured patients from suing their doctors, by forcing people to sign binding arbitration agreements as a condition of receiving treatment from doctors they cover. The latest in this wave comes from a clinic in Florida that has helpfully made this video that patients can watch at home before they sign an agreement promising not to sue for future or past malpractice. Interestingly, ob/gyns covered under this plan get only $250,000 worth of insurance coverage per claim. The policy limit strikes me as a huge incentive for pissed-off lawyers to go after doctors' personal assets in serious malpractice cases if they manage to get around the contract. This may not be such a good deal for the physicians after all.

Comments

[Eric @ New York Personal Injury Law Blog]

When the subject of medical malpractice brochures came up a few months ago, I posted on the fact that bringing these politics into the waiting room could be quite counterproductive, as it puts ideas in the heads of folks who might not be thinking about why something went wrong. The same for videos. Here is the prior posting:

Medical Malpractice Politics In The Doctor's Waiting Room Is A Bad Idea
http://www.newyorkpersonalinjuryattorneyblog.com/2007/03/medical-malpractice-politics-in-doctors.html
--ET

[Greedy Trial Lawyer]

The video lacks dramatic tension. But, that will occur when the patient/victim of malpractice or her family eventually realize the scam that occurred.