Just a quick heads-up: If you can, watch Hot Coffee on HBO tonight at 9 p.m. EST. Read the full post.
Jun 27
2011
05:04 PM ET
The must-watch TV show of the night: 'Hot Coffee' on HBO
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It is true that some lawsuits have merit, i.e. a doctor leaving their initials on a patient’s internal organ during surgery. The bad doctor doesn’t pay his insurance company does. His bad act makes him uninsureable and he loses his medical license. Unfortunately, the other doctors who share his insurers have their premiums increased. These high insurance costs, coupled with a fear of being sued for something that the patient assumes as negligence but the doctor knows is standard practice, is forcing many good docs out of the profession. Likewise in other industries where risk of lawsuit is high, such a small gyms and outdoor recreation companies. Lawsuits in this country are out of control. Common sense tells us that medical costs should be paid only if the service provider’s negligence is greater than the plaintiff’s negligence (which the hot coffee case wouldn’t cut), along with applicable loss of income (no future or projected earning, just what they were paid upon injury), if negligence of service provider is proven to be great or repeated, they should lose their operating license. Punish those responsible, not their colleagues.
If I recall the McDonald’s case correctly from law school – and don’t quote me on this – part of the reason for the large, punitive damages, award was that the coffee was so excessively hot (such that it caused 3rd degree burns). Coffee is usually served at Starbucks, McDonalds and the like at between 150 and 160 degrees. The plaintiff in the suit (again, per my recollection) was able to demonstrate that the coffee at this particular McDonalds was served in the range of 185 degrees, which is sufficient to cause third degree burns. It was the fact that the company did not consider the potential threat of burns to the mouth or body stemming from its policy (the threat of which decreases significantly when the beverage is served at 160 or lower, BTW) that was the reason for the punitive damages award.
McDonalds now serves its coffee at 158 degrees.
mr. harrison bergeron what happen to people can happen to you to,. but we will cross that bridge when we come to it,.
I just watched Hot Coffee. This is a great documentary. It turned my views completely around. Everybody ought to watch this and learn how valuable it can be to their lives. I’m ready to go to Mississippi to help former judge Diaz get his seat back!
WOW! I did watch the show yesterday it was a huge eye opener!! HBO you need to show MORE!!! I really make you wonder who you are voting for, what you are voting for and for who is really working for you!!! I was very disappointed in SEVERAL of our former leaders…….:( Shame on Yall!!
I remember when the McDonald’s lawsuit first made headlines and I was caught up in the media bandwagon – journalists have far too much power in our country to sway our opinions. I mentioned the ridiculousness of the lawsuit and my father, a traveling salesman, said McDonald’s practically boiled their coffee. He believed the possible injuries that could have occurred by the victim and how spilt coffee could cause severe burns. He shut me up in a hurry and taught me to question the facts. I heard just a few years ago that the facts of the case were far different than the media implied and how the victim suffered 3rd degree burns. This documentary provides the McDonald’s case facts and is quite the eye opener for torte reform.
Terrific documentary. When a party is negligent and injures someone, that party should pay. The amount should be determined by a jury of the party’s peers. That’s called justice. The opposite is called corporate manipulation and suppression of rights, with cynical support from Republican bigwigs like Carl Rove and George W. Bush, among others.
For too long have doctors and corporations been the victims of amoral, avaricious consumers.
When considering the merits of lawsuits, judges should consider the economic impact on the defendents. For example, some years back a woman went in for breast cancer surgery, and the surgical team removed the wrong breast. Rather than being philosopical and thoughtful about the matter, the woman sued the doctor and the hospital. The judge should have thrown out the case as frivilous. Sure the woman had to go through a second surgery, but the doctor had planned on taking his wife and kids to the Riviera. The judge did not consider the economic impact on the doctor or the hospital.
Golf courses, luxury hotels, fine restaurants — and, if he is a family values Republican, brothels may be dependent upon the doctor for their respective incomes. Having to pay the plaintiff could take away valuable income from the doctor.
Some people want to argue about the repeat offender aspect — the idea that a small percentage of doctors are subject to an inordinate amount of lawsuits. Really, we should be focusing on the patients and their incompetance.
As a stockholder in several insurance companies, I can tell you that all those cancer patients are lazy deadbeats. They should be working and not draining health insurance companies. They should be toughing it out and not taking away my stock dividends! They should either be working and being productive or they should die quickly and bequeath me their money. Honestly, I think we should have “dead peasant” insurance policies on all minimum wage workers. That would solve our economic woes.
Say NO to tort reform!
Medical negligence during surgery caused my paraplegia. My medical negligence payout should never be determined by politicians and insurance company lobbyists.
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