Friday, October 2, 2009

David Beckwith of Perrysburg Clarifies Tea Party Roots

A Blade letter by David Beckwith of Perrysburg defended the Tea Party folks gathered in D.C. on Sept. 12. He was writing in response to an earlier Blade writer who claimed that the posters carried were professionally made at Big Pharma's or insurance company expense --that people were bused in and orchestrated (and even paid?) by healthcare business interests.

In fact, Beckwith asserts that park police estimated unofficially that 2 or 2 1/2 million people attended. He reported that the well-behaved protesters were all ages and protesting President O's policies in general. He clarified that he certainly paid his own way and made a one-day trip.

I do remember when doctors and other individuals (admitting their affiliation with the industry by wearing their white coats) bused themselves voluntarily to Columbus in search of tort reform in Ohio a few years back. After all, the crisis was such in John Edwards' state, North Carolina, that malpractice insurance companies were abandoning the state because of lawyers like him --and with the insurers followed the doctors. We don't want that to happen in Ohio. There needs to be a cap on the obscene process whereby settling out of court is cheaper than obtaining justice --because of our disgrace of a legal system --whereby malpractice insurers can't afford to defend doctors anymore because lawyers are so expensive and juries are too generous about unfortunate situations --at the expense of really punishing malpractice.

I am truly annoyed with those who say these Tea Party demonstrators and those who agree with them are such a small per cent of the nation, duped by lies, stoked by Limbaugh, Fox, et al --incapable of coming to their skepticism of socialist gov't on their own--incapable of reading and following national news from sources other than EIB and FOX.

Again, I say to Obama, get the economy going (by doing less, not more); don't raise taxes; don't increase spending; DO address waste, graft, and corporate, gov't, public and private greed -- and labor greed --and deficit spending at all levels, all of which have brought us where we are today. Do stress studying hard and self-reliance, honesty and responsibility, self-reliance and good character --to school children --and DO protect this nation against global Sharia and Muslim extremism and communist regimes like No. Korea. If we can't defend ourselves against beheaders and suicide bombers and nuclear holocaust, nothing else will matter. Healthcare is a secondary concern to national defense and global terrorism.




"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible

10 comments:

Jeanette said...

Barb,

One correction: John Edwards was born in South Carolina but was a senator from North Carolina and that's where he did his ambulance chasing.

We already have a governor who can't make up his mind to stay faithful to his wife; please don't saddle us with Edwards too. -:)

Barb said...

Thanks for the clarification.

Glad to hear your granddaughter is doing well still?

Anonymous said...

You stupid cow. Once again you think that the mere ownership of a computer is a license to publish anything you please regardless of the facts.

2.5 million tea partyers in D.C.? Try 50-60,000.

John Edwards is from N.C., as noted by Jeanette.

Did you check any facts on Ohio malpractice suits?

I don't suppose you read this:

"There is a cap on non-economic damages for medical malpractice arising out of acts or omissions on or after April 11, 2003. The basic cap is the larger of $250,000 or three times economic damages, subject to a maximum of $350,000 per plaintiff and a maximum of $500,000 per occurrence. These maximum amounts increase to $500,000 per plaintiff and $1 million per occurrence if the plaintiff has suffered permanent and substantial physical deformity, loss of use of a limb, loss of a bodily organ system, or permanent physical injury that prevents self-care. Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 2323.43 (Westlaw 2006). The cap does not apply to cases brought under the wrongful death statute, Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 2323.43(G)(3) (Westlaw 2006), but it does limit recovery by a decedent's estate for such non-economic damages as conscious pain and suffering experienced prior to death. Prior damage caps, similar in some respects to the current statute but different in others, have twice been held to be unconstitutional by the Ohio Supreme Court. State ex rel. Ohio Academy of Trial Lawyers v. Sheward, 86 Ohio St. 3d 451, 715 N.E.2d 1062 (1999); Morris v. Savoy, 61 Ohio St. 3d 684, 576 N.E.2d 765 (1991).:


Proverbs 19:9

A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will perish.

It goes for "shes" also.

I have a suggestion. Try living in an evidence based reality.

Regards.

The Loop Garoo Kid

Barb said...

You violate any rules of civility, dear Loopy Kid. Do I call you names like "cow?" or "pig" comes to mind. No, I do not. So watch your mouth. I may start to edit comments and see if anything is left of substance afterward. You should be ashamed of stooping so low. What kind of guy are you anyway????

I know what the official count is of the tea party people --and I suppose the park police who said that to Beckwith could have been exaggerating or merely mistaken --or, on the other hand, correct. You surely don't know --nor do I.

Beside the point --there are millions who agree with the Tea Party folks in their concern for national spending policy.

About Ohio --YES, the demonstration in Ohio bore some fruit. Did I say otherwise??? Not really--but is the system, even in Ohio, good enough as is? Can anyone really afford million dollar settlements for medical errors? Can WE, the people or the medical profession afford to keep these lawyers in the style to which John Edwards is accustomed? I don't think so.

When there is true malpractice, there should be compensation, but can it every really compensate --or just enrich the family and the lawyer --neither of whom necessarily deserve the compensation as much as the victim who can only benefit from so much money. And how often are the judgments really fair to the doctors? Sure there are cases of malpractice, but far more is spent on cases that are NOT malpractice -settling out of court in order to contain the cost of a defense-and I could make a list of horror stories about injustices toward doctors and hospitals which I've heard about in the med. profession.

Anonymous said...

Your problem is you don't investigate. How do you know there are lots of expensive out of court settlements?

I cannot speak for Ohio but if it is like my state, bringing one of these cases is incredibly expensive and the doctor has the authority to forbid that a case is settled.

You seem to think that all the lawyers and undeserving family members are getting rich. I doubt it.

If you wish to venture an opinion regarding the fact you prefer apple pie to blueberry, no one can argue.

If you wish to publish an opinion which has a basis in readily ascertainable facts, look at the facts first.

The Loop Garoo Kid

Barb said...

Did you forget, Loop, that my husband is an MD? I think that in 35 years, 2 cases (maybe just one --I'm not sure --I think you can count on one hand or less the number of patients who have tried to sue him) have been settled out of court --where he was not remotely guilty --but couldn't afford to have the case hanging over his head (along with others named --the "victims" always name as many as they can in hopes of getting people to settle instead of going to court --which is too risky and too expensive a process --and too time-consumning and stressful.) So the docs and their insurance companies DO settle as the cheapest, quickest way out -- rather than risk their careers and their livelihoods and possessions to injustice in American courts, paying lawyers and their experts exorbitant fees for defense.

It's become a form of legal extortion to sue a doctor. And many lawyers do make their living on the prosecution and defense sides of malpractice suits. I think I did hear it was 30 billion for 2007 --the costs of malpractice suits in US. I also have heard of many other cases through my husband's knowledge.

And it IS a fact that No. Carolina had a crisis in healthcare because the insurers and doctors were both leaving the state where the likes of John Edwards were very successful.

no doctor wants to work his butt off to have some lawsuit ruin his career and take all he has earned, past and future. And none can afford to practice uninsured.

We heard of one Calif. case where a vasectomy failed --and the couple had a baby --and they successfully sued the doctor for the support of this child! I think they should've gotten the child, in such a case. AFter all, the parents were mad that they had the baby!

Barb said...

One encouragement to sue is all these law firms taking cases on contingency--defending people for no charge --unless they win the case.

Barb said...

I just tried to find figures through google for the cost of malpractice insurance paid by doctors, the cost of out of court settlements paid by the doctors and/or their insurance, and the cost of court settlements granted by juries. I couldn't find any easy total nation-wide figures on the subject.

You also cannot find accurate figures on REAL MALPRACTICE --because the settlements don't tell the story. They'll say so many people died of malpractice --but did they? or is that just gauged by the settlements and pay-outs? the court decisions? Those simply are not always accurate as to cause of death --or injury, disability, etc.

E.G. a drunk driver hits a tree and a potentially critical injury is missed by a radiologist who doesn't see it on the x ray --and thus the man dies. he might have died anyway, but his estranged spouse makes a case for the overlooked problem. She sues the family doc, the hospital specialists, the hospital, the family dog--well, you name it! And sues for her loss of companion--though he was really with another woman by then.

this case was eventually thrown out of court --after all, his drunk driving caused his death --the fact that they couldn't put Humpty Dumpty back together again was really not the doctors' and the hospital's fault.

But this case could just as easily have gone against the healthcare team --had it gone to trial.

And that illustrates accurately the problem with litigation today.

steve said...

My problem with the tea parties is the complete hypocrisy of it all. Where were the teapeeps when Haliburton / Bechtell was overcharging the tax payer in the billions to give our troops dirty water and inadequate housing. Where were the tea peeps when Bush gave Bazillions to Wall street in the biggest corporate socialist scheme ever imagined. Where were the tea peeps demanding accountability for the trillion dollars spent on a war without any clear victory strategy ect.. When bush began his presidency the Clinton Whitehouse had shaved the National Debt down from 4 Trillion to about 3 Trillion with a 127 Billion dollar surplus, when Bush left, he had cranked the National Debt up to almost 6 Trillion and a RECORD budget deficit of 455 Billion... NOT A PEEP from the TEAPARTY PEEPS. So what gives.. Oh.. Black man in the White house.

Barb said...

First of all --it's not at all about a black man in the white house. It's about a shockingly liberal and inexperienced democrat in the white house who does have Islamic sentiments/roots from his fathers and his childhood in Indonesia.

We had a lot of problems in Bush's era --which were not caused by him. Expensive problems. Yes, he took us into Iraq --with counsel of many military and foreign policy advisors. That was unfinished business from the Gulf War when Iraqis hoped we would help remove the iron boot of Sadam and staged an uprising --and we didn't come --so they died horribly. I think it's ridiculous to announce a plan for withdrawal --a time table --when dealing with criminal types --who will just lay low until we leave.

I think we underestimated what the Bible said about the King of Babylon --"a wild donkey of a man" --and so it is with islam --a wild donkey of a religion --and those people are probably incapable of peace and self-governance because of their beliefs in killing infidels --in the ultimate inevitability of sharia law and Islam all over the world --and their means of getting it is bloodshed. Freedom of religion will only be preached by them here in America where they want to see Islam spread. But to really follow their book? Deadly for the rest of us. Not that all Muslims think alike --that's part of the problem --they don't! and so they are always at war internally as well as at war with the rest of the world.

Something wrong with a religion that stoned a 12 year old girl to death in Egypt for converting to Christianity --that stoned a 12 or 13 year old rape victim to death in Somalia for posing temptation to men by being out walking alone to her grandparents'. All within the last year or two.

I fear Islam--with good reason.

I fear a weak president who outspent Bush's 8 years in his first 5 months!!! --with good reason.

the gilded edge is off Sadam now --for failing to get the Olympics!! We thought the world was worshiping at his feet! I guess not! A welcome surprise --though the olympics would have been good for our economy --I think.

you say where were the teapeeps when all these wrongs were committed -- did we know what was going on? And we didn't approve Bush's bail-outs any more than Osama's --but it takes awhile to get your protest movement organized, after all.

Things come to a head before you get the opposition motivated.

There WERE GOP voices critical of Bush's spending --even on AIDS in Africa --just because we were deficit spending --but he would say that saving lives was worth it --compassionate conservative that he is. I was appalled at our deficit spending on victims of 9/11 --knowing we had many other victims of war and tragedies whose children's college tuitions weren't going to be granted --who were not going to be made millionaires by their tragedies --especially our servicemen.

So conservative voices DID criticize --and GOP did lose the next election --but hypocrisy? You can find better candidates for that charge!!! on the LEFT! Especially those many on the left who profited in the mortgage businesses in our Congress --who voted against greater oversight of the lending industry when Bush said we needed to get ahold of Fannie and Freddy.