Healthcare Update Satellite — 07-09-2013

More updates available tomorrow on my other blog at DrWhitecoat.com Why does an $11,596 emergency department visit cost $1,100? A spokesperson for the California Hospital Association says that it is because of government regulation. I want to know what doctor ever gets paid $4,242 for a Level 4 emergency department visit. California attorneys are trying to raise the cap on damages under California’s Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act. Caps are currently $250,000 and haven’t been raised in more than 35 years. The article says that many attorneys won’t take medical malpractice cases in California because they are too time-intensive and costly and attorneys don’t get a big enough payoff when they win. So much for that whole argument about how malpractice plaintiff’s attorneys are in it only to make sure that their clients receive “justice” …. Think you have a “spider bite”? You probably don’t. Out of 40,000 species of spiders, only about a dozen actually can cause damage to humans. Most of the others either are not toxic to humans or don’t have “fangs” big enough to pierce human flesh. One study on the issue showed that many people with alleged spider bites actually had an infection with the “superbug” MRSA which is caused in large part by antibiotic overuse. Keep popping those amoxicillin prescriptions and Augmentin refills, though. Speaking about antibiotics … this study in the British Journal of Dermatology shows that children who are exp...
Source: WhiteCoat's Call Room - Category: Emergency Medicine Doctors Authors: Tags: Healthcare Update Source Type: blogs