Regarding Idaho's parental consent law, it includes exceptions for emergency situations where furnishing the health care is necessary to prevent death or imminent physical injury, or after a reasonably diligent effort, the parent cannot be located and further delay would seriously endanger the minor child. She was "new in town" with no doctor; showing up at the ER in an unplanned childbirth situation should be considered an emergency, but apparently the hospital's legal team thought otherwise. They're thinking liability lawsuits, and it's understandable. A 2018 AMA study found that the average cost to defend a medical liability lawsuit was $54K in 2015, up 64% from 2006. Although 68% of medical liability lawsuits are dropped, those dropped lawsuits still cost an average of $30K to defend -- again, AMA data. If a hospital lets lawyers make care decisions, the hospital is guaranteed to get the decision that is least risky to the hospital, not the patient.
The “root cause” of this situation is the law that focuses less on the patient and more on the political environment. Nit-picky laws for complicated situations, much like contracts, leave gaping holes of uncertainties for the customer while the business focuses on its own survival.
As a retired ER doctor, there are an INFINITE # of possible permutations, that can NOT be legislated, but have to be a decision between the health care team and the patient. Most physicians/hospitals are terrified of new restrictive laws that haven’t been tested for a few years and will always err on the self protection rather than patient protection. This unfortunately is beginning to replace the well established rule of when in doubt do what is right for the patient. Extreme politicians can’t get their head around that one. The time frame of emergency treatment is shorter than determining what side of the law any choice will end on. Next time you or a loved one ends up in the emergency room/department do you want your ER Doctor to have to wait for a legal opinion to decide which emergency treatment is necessary/or legally acceptable? If it is a night or weekend it will probably be addressed the following business day.
Re: WaPo article - why does it matter how many/who the donors are? People should think/decide based on their own values and the candidates qualifications, NOT based on what everyone else thinks
Bill, the stinking Wa-Po makes you sign up for a “free” account in order to be able to read the article. What a craptastic way for Wa-Po to do readers.
Never understood social media influencers. Guess that shows my age. And that I value my time too much to spend a lot of time on social media. Guess I should look at TikTok one of these days but probably never will.
Regarding Idaho's parental consent law, it includes exceptions for emergency situations where furnishing the health care is necessary to prevent death or imminent physical injury, or after a reasonably diligent effort, the parent cannot be located and further delay would seriously endanger the minor child. She was "new in town" with no doctor; showing up at the ER in an unplanned childbirth situation should be considered an emergency, but apparently the hospital's legal team thought otherwise. They're thinking liability lawsuits, and it's understandable. A 2018 AMA study found that the average cost to defend a medical liability lawsuit was $54K in 2015, up 64% from 2006. Although 68% of medical liability lawsuits are dropped, those dropped lawsuits still cost an average of $30K to defend -- again, AMA data. If a hospital lets lawyers make care decisions, the hospital is guaranteed to get the decision that is least risky to the hospital, not the patient.
Nicely outlined.
The “root cause” of this situation is the law that focuses less on the patient and more on the political environment. Nit-picky laws for complicated situations, much like contracts, leave gaping holes of uncertainties for the customer while the business focuses on its own survival.
As a retired ER doctor, there are an INFINITE # of possible permutations, that can NOT be legislated, but have to be a decision between the health care team and the patient. Most physicians/hospitals are terrified of new restrictive laws that haven’t been tested for a few years and will always err on the self protection rather than patient protection. This unfortunately is beginning to replace the well established rule of when in doubt do what is right for the patient. Extreme politicians can’t get their head around that one. The time frame of emergency treatment is shorter than determining what side of the law any choice will end on. Next time you or a loved one ends up in the emergency room/department do you want your ER Doctor to have to wait for a legal opinion to decide which emergency treatment is necessary/or legally acceptable? If it is a night or weekend it will probably be addressed the following business day.
Re: WaPo article - why does it matter how many/who the donors are? People should think/decide based on their own values and the candidates qualifications, NOT based on what everyone else thinks
I was curious!
It was interesting to me….says a lot about the demographics of areas. Knowing that info has nothing to do with how I make decisions!
Bill, the stinking Wa-Po makes you sign up for a “free” account in order to be able to read the article. What a craptastic way for Wa-Po to do readers.
The WaPo sucks now that the British and Aussies have taken over.
Never understood social media influencers. Guess that shows my age. And that I value my time too much to spend a lot of time on social media. Guess I should look at TikTok one of these days but probably never will.