Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Ann Coulter vs Elizabeth Edwards

Ann Coulter vs Elizabeth Edwards on Hardball 6/26

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Thursday, June 14, 2007

Tort Troubles in Texas

From the Fort Worth Star Telegram 6/10
The Web site for orthopedic surgeon Jack Thomas shows the doe-eyed medical doctor with a "great bedside manner" and lists kindness and compassion as "hallmarks of his care."

Photographs of Thomas with an elderly patient appear as the words, "Dr. Thomas helped me to walk again. ... He is the most caring doctor I have ever had," take turns flashing across the home page.

The Texas Medical Board Web site also shows that Thomas -- who practices in a small community 45 miles northeast of Dallas -- has published a book on medical ethics. In fact, the only blemish that was on the site's profile of the physician earlier this spring was a December 1991 report of "mental incapacity."

But those who browsed another Web site -- the Texas Department of Public Safety -- would have discovered that Thomas pleaded guilty to three felonies, including Medicare fraud and illegally prescribing many dosage units of dangerous narcotics to people who weren't his patients. The federal Drug Enforcement Administration yanked his controlled-substances prescription license, and he served a 10-year probation until 2001.

A phone call to the Texas Medical Board would have revealed that Thomas, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, surrendered his medical license in 1991. He got it back in 1999.

Such gaps in the board's physician profiles are one of the cracks in the system that was supposed to add new layers of protection for Texas patients. Lawmakers supplied the board with more money -- a 50 percent increase in 2004 -- and new powers. The commitment was that patients would be more aggressively protected in the wake of new legislation that, in effect, made it more difficult for patients to sue doctors for malpractice. But after the initial push, resources have been cut back, and state data do not indicate that the Legislature has made good on its promises to beef up protections.

If this is what tort reform means, I am really scared. Personally I'd like to have recourse against a doctor like Thomas, but I guess am not entitled to that. It's more important as many doctors have said to cut these malpractice claims down so they can afford to live*... ok, fair enough.
*According to a Durant doctor the malpractice insurance prevented him from buying a boat. What I'd like to be able to afford to buy a boat to. Maybe Oklahoma should stop trying to be like Texas and instead be better!

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Monday, June 11, 2007

Brent Rinehart for Governor?


The Oklahoman is reporting that an anonymous person posted drunk photos of embattled Oklahoma county commissioner Brent Rinehart on the internet. Also someone purchased a billboard in downtown OKC proclaiming "Rinehart for Governor!"

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New Abortion Bill To Require Fetal Consent