Malpractice Reform and Eradication of Our Constitution

Here's a fabulous article by my dear friend, Ken Connor, on a significant threat to our Constitution and the rights of some of our most vulnerable citizens. Ken states, "Congress should clean up its own act before enacting "reforms" that damage the civil justice system and undermine the constitutional rights of American citizens.  Perhaps they should begin by re-reading the Constitution, since it didn't seem to make much of an impression the first time around."

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Don't We Have a Constitution?

In a world of unexpected alliances, here's a blog supporting the notion that even the most conservative folks need to preserve the right to a jury trial. The article offers several reasons why Tea Partiers, Constitutional conservatives, Main Street Republicans and Blue Collars should vigorously oppose H.R. 5 and any federal law limiting medical malpractice lawsuits.

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Nursing Home Industry Political Group Intertwined in Tom Delay's Conviction

Tom Delay was indicted, convicted and recently sentenced regarding wrongful use of funds to influence elections in Texas. What has received little press is the fact that much of this money came from a large nursing home industry political group. For fact-checking - here's some helpful information.

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When Insurers Put Profits Between Doctor and Patient

In the world of for-profit health insurance, there is an obvious tension between maximizing corporate profit and giving people proper care. Wendel Potter, ex-executive from Cigna in charge of corporate communications, sheds some light on this problem with his book “Deadly Spin” - an evenhanded yet riveting account of the inner workings of the health care insurance industry.

The truly terrible incident that caused Mr. Potter to leave the industry was a case of Nataline Sarkisyan, a 17 year-old girl who was denied an operation for a liver transplant that gave her a 65% chance of survival because the insurance company would not pay for the procedure. The storm of bad public relations Cigna got after their decision forced them to reverse their decision, however, it was too late. The young girl died.
 

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For-profit Nursing Homes Overcharging Medicare

For many years, we have been stating on this blog that one of the greatest sources of our healthcare crisis is Medicare Fraud. A recent article in The New York Times details the recent increase in this disturbing trend of for profit nursing homes not only over-billing Medicare, but actually altering the treatment of innocent residents - solely to increase their profit.
 

Sterling Manor Staff Member Accused of Selling Drugs

Theresa Walters, of Pennsauken, New Jersey, has been charged with conspiracy, distribution and possession of drugs and distribution in a school zone after police learned that she had been selling prescription drugs to residents at Sterling Manor Nursing Home in Maple Shade, New Jersey. Walters worked at Sterling Manor where she sold and offered to sell drugs to several people at the facility. It is not clear how many residents were offered the drugs or how many bought them. This is just another example of why it is imperative that administration of nursing homes carefully monitor their stock of drugs in order to prevent incidents like this from happening.