THE TRUTH ABOUT MEDICAL MALPRACTICE: The Patient's Rights/The Doctor's Rights

by ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 19, 1975

Dr. Gots, trained as a surgeon and now acting adviser to both medical men and laymen, is an ideal choice for either--he's informed, open-minded and even-handed, only too well aware of the erosion of the doctor-patient relationship at a time when technology has replaced approachability and concern. Also at a time when if you don't die on the table, you only too frequently live to sue (50% of all suits never reach court; 75% of those which do-are won by the doctor). There are three general categories in malpractice suits: injury, negligence, and the more delicate, inexact ""proximate cause."" Somewhere, usually a marginal in between, there's room for errors in judgment, ""informed consent"" which is not always available particularly if you're in extremis, as well as disable-or-cure, prevent-or-kill contingencies. Gots includes a great many illustrations of more than usual incisiveness, as well as one long case from bed to courtroom--should the victim of a paralyzing accident have been submitted to a dubiously effective procedure which in fact failed? At the close Gots discusses the costs, emotional and financial, in this more and more arbitrary area and makes remedial suggestions toward monitoring the medical profession and curbing litigation against it which is too often damaging to the profession as a whole. Gots is obviously the man to have on your side, moderating, cautioning, before you throw in the sponge for having left it in--one of the few examples of blatant negligence. Most of it is not that simple and needs this kind of balanced consideration.

Pub Date: Dec. 19, 1975

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Stein & Day

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 1975

Categories: NONFICTION