Lobotomy Without Frivolous Lawsuits

We hear a lot about frivolous lawsuits these days. President Bush and his cohorts are blaming medical malpractice lawsuits for anything that is wrong in today's medical world--we put a cap on said lawsuits and the world will begin to spin in the right direction and the sun will come up warmer and it will be Spring all year around...

Of course that is nonsense. I suspect Mr. Bush knows it as well, but demagoguery and appealing to certain constituency oblige taking the position the Bush and Co. have taken.

What made me think about this was this article I read about Dr. Freeman. "From 1936 to 1967, Freeman performed 3,400 lobotomies. Given nearly unfettered access to patients in mental institutions across the country, Freeman performed surgeries -- which involved sticking an ice pick-like instrument through a patient's eye socket -- that left many paralyzed or comatose and at least 68 dead."

It is amazing to see what went on and what Dr. Freeman did to people in such a cavalier manner even if it turned out that for a few people the process was helpful. The article describes a death directly having been caused as the result of Dr. Freeman posing in the middle of a surgery for a photograph...

Medical malpractice? Of course. The events pertaining to this Dr. Freeman and the manner he practiced surgery (he wasn't even a surgeon) on people goes to show what the medical industry is capable of without fear of being hit with multi-million dollar lawsuits. Understandably, the doctors and their insurance are hoping to take away this safeguard leaving patients without adequate protection against predators such as Dr. Freeman.