Dear editor,
A recent article in the Opinion section of this paper by the Georgia-based Patient for Fair (Fear of) Compensation was misleading and self-serving.
The executive director of this Georgia-based group heads a very large company that provides employees to hospitals and physicians. They are active in several states they provide employees in, making the same misleading claims made here.
Those claims are nothing more than another taxpayer bailout to avoid responsibility for deaths and maiming caused by their employees.
Their board of directors (comprise) industry providers only — not one patient advocate.
After heart disease and cancer, medical errors kill the third most Americans every year: over 250,000 — 700 Americans a day. Medical errors kill more Americans than accidents, stroke and Alzheimer’s. This number exceeds by almost 100,000 the number of residents of Santa Rosa County. Every 10 years over 2,500,000 Americans are being killed from lack of “medical care” rather than the disease being treated.
In Florida today, a medical error can kill a single parent and, if that parent’s children are over a certain age, the health care provider who killed the single parent is immune from suit. Of course, if you run a red light and kill that parent you are not immune.
Imagine what outrage there would be if ISIS was killing 700 Americans a day. Would anyone suggest a taxpayer bailout for them like Georgia-based Patient for Fair (Fear of) Compensation is here. Of course not; Americans would be demanding responsibility and accountability, as they should, for those who kill us by lack of care.
The failure to provide for full compensation for responsible persons and hold them accountable places the burden of that damage caused on the back of American taxpayers.
That is not acceptable.
And what an example this sets. If everyone is granted immunity or limited responsibility, then eventually 100 percent of harm causes will be asking you to cover their bill.
As Americans, our moral system of laws is based on responsibility and accountability — not taxpayer bailouts for killers and harm causers.
DAN STEWART
Pace
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: No taxpayer bailouts for health care errors