Medical Malpractice and The Flat Earth Society

Posted on January 17, 2012 by Greenberg & Bederman

Did you know that there is a group called the Flat Earth Society? We’re serious. They exist. They are a group who sincerely believe that the planet on which we dwell is as flat as a pancake. They believe this despite hundreds of years of evidence to the contrary. They believe this despite photographic evidence, the laws of physics, latitude and longitude and all the other facts that verify with all the certainty in the world that the world is in fact round.

 

Don’t bother trying to convince them otherwise. They believe that all the evidence is fake. They believe that the credentials of all of these so-called “experts” and “scientists” are overstated, and that this belief is just part of a big money making conspiracy. (We aren’t sure who would profit by making people believe the earth is round, or how they would profit, but this is the belief.) They also always manage to find the one guy with a science degree who actually agrees with them, and they trot him out as their expert.

As crazy as the Flat Earth Society sounds, there are actually a great many corporations who have found their example to be purely inspirational. Tobacco companies, for instance, were denying for decades the harmfulness of its products. They claimed nicotine was not addictive and that smoking was only a habit, and further claimed that it wasn’t really that bad for you. And they always asked questions like these: “Who are these so-called ‘experts’ who were linking tobacco to lung cancer? What is their real agenda? How can we trust them? But in the meantime, here is a scientist that we found who disputes everything all the other scientists say about nicotine. So the facts are still out on the so-called ‘harmfulness’ of tobacco.

 

The business lobbying titan that is the U.S. Chamber of Commerce also engages in Flat Earth behavior, particularly when the subject is climate change. Their official position is that 99% of climatologists and researchers are either wrong or simply making it up when they claim that our planet is getting warmer due to carbon emissions. And they are pleased to present you with a list of the dozen or so scientists who don’t believe in global warming.

The major difference between the Flat Earth Society and the tobacco and manufacturing companies is that the Flat Earth Society actually believes in what they are saying whereas big tobacco and the Chamber of Commerce are simply pretending to believe. They know that tobacco is dangerous, and they do know that global warming exists. They are doing the Flat Earth routine because the alternative is more regulations on their industries, and regulations cost money.

Here’s the Flat Earth method: Deny. Deny again. Dispute the evidence, and then the providers of that evidence. Question the motives of the people who provide the evidence. Find someone willing to present your evidence, no matter how flimsy. Claim that the question is still in doubt because of this flimsy evidence. Repeat as often as necessary.

Medical malpractice insurance companies use the Flat Earth method as well. Their premise is that the United States court system is simply overrun with frivolous medical malpractice suits. Anybody who walks into the hospital can go to the courthouse and sue an honest doctor for millions of dollars. Why, there must be hundreds of thousands of frivolous medical malpractice cases going on at this very moment. And here are some of our experts to prove it.

Of course, none of this is true. All you have to do is look at the actual numbers, all of which are easily available.  Nobody is getting rich off of medical malpractice suits, and there aren’t hundreds of thousands of them, whether they are viewed as “frivolous” or not. And considering the expense of putting a medical malpractice case through court, an attorney would have to be willing to throw money away to attempt to try a case with no merit.

But never mind the facts, say the malpractice insurance companies. The earth is flat. Those numbers are stilted and fake. The real numbers (our numbers) are skyrocketing. All the cases are frivolous. Won’t someone in the government step in and help us?

Aside from merely pretending to believe what the Flat Earth Society actually does believe, another key difference is that medical malpractice insurance companies are able to get others to believe them as well. Hundreds of state and federal legislators believe, despite all the evidence and numbers to the contrary, that there is a medical malpractice crisis that needs to be regulated. There are now incredibly restrictive laws that favor the insurance companies rather than the injured patient in almost every state in America.  Sadly, none of this will come out until the victims stories are told one by one.

Fortunately, Maryland, D.C. and Virginia are not under the draconian restrictions that exist in Texas. There are some obstacles here, such as caps on pain and suffering, but fortunately they are relatively minor compared to Texas. As experienced medical malpractice lawyers, we are well versed in the obstacles that have been placed in the way of the injured. But bear in mind that the Flat Earth mindset is working for medical malpractice insurance companies. It can work in the state houses in Richmond and Annapolis and it can certainly work on Capitol Hill. We would urge you to contact your state or federal representative and remind them that despite what they might have heard, the earth is still round.

Greenberg and Bederman is a Washington DC Metropolitan area-based medical malpractice firm. We are currently offering legal assistance to anyone in the Washington, D.C. area who has been injured due to the negligence of a doctor or other medical professional. If you or a loved one has been a victim of medical malpractice in Maryland, Virginia or Washington, D.C, contact Greenberg & Bederman for a free legal consultation today.

 
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