Good point. The entire system is predicated on artificial costs. Nothing has any real value. Even the simplest procedure is billed at the maximum that the insurance will allow, so the premiums go up, so the price limits go up, etc. It's almost as if there is a speculative market on medical costs. Doctors aren't the ones doing it necessarily (they don't set costs, per se) and it certainly isn't patients. And I refuse to feel sorry for the trillion dollar insurance industry--they seem to be managing just fine.

Also, I think there is a good deal of cross-pollen thinking when people talk about "frivolous" lawsuits. They think of winners of the Stella Awards (hot coffee in lap lady) and apply that to medical suits.

I hardly think that someone who gets the wrong leg amputated or someone who's child has permanent brain damange because of a medical error is acting "frivolously" even if they sue for a bajillion dollars.

If someone ruined my chilld's life or ruined my life because they were incompetent, you're damn right that I'd sue them for enough money so I could do whatever the hell I wanted for the rest of my life. If your stupidity robs me of my ability to live my life how I want, than I reserve the right to sue you for enough money to live however the hell I can manage from now on.

[/rant]