I made an appt with this doctor, and upon signing in, I was given the usual forms to fill out prior to being seen by the doctor. However, contained in this stack of usual forms, was one that I have never seen in any other doctor's visit. An ARBITRATION AGREEMENT. This form has the effect of DENYING a patient's right to sue a doctor in a court of law and seek a jury trial. This right is a god given right granted to us by our U.S. Constitution, but this doctor wants me to give up this right before he even sees me. Arbitration not only surrenders a patients rights to a jury trial, it is also prohibitively expensive for the plaintiff. And even if the patient does undertake the extreme costs to pursue a liability claim, arbitration panels almost always award less to the plaintiff. This is a fact, as Arbitration is a private business venture, & it is well established that those who provide arbitration services & consistently give awards to the plaintiff, or give what could be considered too great of an amount over and above that of a jury trial, well, they typically do not stay in business for long, as businesses who seek their services will go elsewhere. They will look for a private arbitration firm that seeks to benefit them, and not the plaintiff. It basically comes down to who do you want to look to for help if your doctor commits malpractice and harms you greatly. An unbiased court system with an impartial jury? Or a private sector business who relies on repeat business from doctors? Can you guess who will be more favorable to you, the plaintiff?
Furthermore, many personal injury lawyers who would typically take your case for free, will not represent you unless you first agree to pay up front the costs of initiating an arbitration panel...which can run into the thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars...up front...paid by you, the patient. Whereas, for a jury trial, it costs only a few hundred dollars to initiate a court case, which most lawyers will gladly front the costs for you. Doctors know this, and know that not only do arbitration agreements have a chilling effect on legal actions against them, they will typically only have to pay out pennies on the dollar if they do commit malpractice. Finally, it should also be mentioned, that this doctor & his group do not carry malpractice insurance. Which means they do not have an insurance carrier with the amount of money that may be necessary to make you whole if they commit malpractice and make a mistake with your healthcare.
Upon finding this insulting arbitration agreement contained within my packet of documents to fill out, I asked the front desk if I had to sign this agreement or was it optional. I was told that it had to be signed or I would be refused service. So, in essence, this doctor wants his patients to give up their rights, right then and there, without consultation from an attorney, if they want him to treat them. This doctor is hoping that you will blindly sign this agreement without question. You will find out only when it is too late, that you gave up this very valuable right, when you need help the most. DO NOT give up your rights. No doctor is worth this. Especially when so many other specialists in this field will not ask you to sign this horrible form.
Contained within the arbitration agreement is a statement telling you that you are signing this agreement in order to keep costs down and save money. But save money for who? The doctor does not charge less than other doctors within his profession. My copay is the same and my insurance company pays him the same as other doctors that do NOT require I sign an arbitration agreement. So, it appears that this "savings" that is stated as the reason for the arbitration agreement, is not passed along to the patient, but instead, goes directly to the doctor. It's not to save the patient money, but instead, an increase of profits to the doctor. Combine this with the fact that this doctor is also not paying for malpractice insurance, a lot of money is being saved. Money meant as a cost for protection of patients. Who gets that savings?
Anyway, I refuse to see any doctor that tells me I have to give up my rights in order to see him. I have been to many doctors and I have never before been asked to give up this very important right. This isn't a can of soup I am buying, this is my health, my life I am trusting him with. And if he makes a mistake, I am not only not allowed to look to the court system for help, I also do not have an insurance company I can work with in order to make me whole.
There are just way too many other doctors in this field have malpractice insurance and do not require me to sign this ridiculous arbitration agreement form. This is my life at stake, and I want what is best for me. This doctor isn't it.
Don't take my word, Google arbitration agreements and doctors, and see what the consensus is on the subject & who it benefits. You will find it is not the patient. read more
