The weekend

Well, the weekend is over. I can’t really say that I feel as if I had a weekend. I was able to relax a bit on Saturday and watch a couple of football games, but sandwiched in between the games was 4 hours of Torts review with my study group. At least I had a chance to sleep a little later than normal. This morning, I woke up to the sound of my phone ringing. My folks called to let me know that they were back in town, and I was relieved. When I was younger, my folks used to always worry about me when I was traveling (and they still do), but somehow along the way, I started to be the one who worried. After that, I got up, showered, and headed out to meet my brother for breakfast. Over breakfast at Clarke’s, we caught up. He drove me downtown to pick up a book tat I had forgotten and dropped me off at the library in Lincoln Park. I stayed at the library for 5 hours and was able to get a lot of work done.

My reading for Torts was really interesting. It was all about medical malpractice. Apparently, the standard of care for physicians should only match the requirements of their specialty. The burden of proof for negligence falls on the plaintiff. If this is the case, one would think that more cases would be challenged in court. The problem is that the insurance companies are often browbeaten by plaintiff attorneys to settle. The result of this is doctors paying more and more when they shouldn’t have to. The Tort system does need to be reformed (ambulance chasers like John Edwards notwithstanding), but it should be done carefully. I have seen cases where there are real instances of malpractice and I have seen more cases where the malpractice is just an attempt to extort money. In one of the cases where there was real evidence of malpractice, one of my friends was involved. I was struck by his honesty when he told me that all he wanted was an apology, and the fact that the doctor was hiding infuriated him. With the state of medical malpractice now, it is no wonder the physician chose to duck and cover, as the system as designed punishes honesty and rewards silence.

The rest of the evening looks pretty relaxing. I plan on watching the Ravens game and maybe reading a couple of more cases. Tomorrow, it all starts up again!