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Well, the Supreme Court, in an opinion written by noted scholar and accused sexual harasser Clarence Thomas, handed the managed health care industry a huge victory when it ruled that HMO's cannot be sued in state court. Instead patients will only be permitted to pursue their claims in federal court, where damages are severely limited; usually the patient is only allowed to recover the cost of the procedure that should have been performed. So if the HMO doesn't authorize daddy's cancer surgery and daddy dies, his wife and kids can sue and recover the cost of the surgery. And nothing else. The wages daddy would have earned to protect his family[that the family now desperately needs]- nope, can't recover those. Ain't that a hoot? The millions of Americans covered by HMO's just got a major screwing. Hell, even the doctors are outraged. The American Medical Association noted in a press release that "...managed care plans can now practice medicine without a license and without the same accountibility that physicians face every day." Dr. John Nelson, president of the AMA noted that "This is a sad day for America's patients and the physicians who care for them." It surely is. All those HMO's can now breathe a huge sigh of relief, taking comfort in the fact that the Supreme Court's decision effectively immunizes them from any real liability for the lives they rip apart.

On a somewhat related note, 5 more class action suits were filed against non-profit hospitals this week claiming that the hospitals overcharged uninsured patients and then harassed the patients about the unpaid bills. The hospitals, for their part, are claiming the suits reflect a "...fundamental misconception regarding the nature of not for profit health care..."

And finally from the Fascinating Lawsuit Department...

Saw an interesting article in the Sun-Times regarding a federal lawsuit filed by a mother and daughter after an unpleasant dining experience at a local restuarant. Seems that mom and daughter decided their jambalaya was too spicy. They elected not to pay for it. They tried to return it, but were advised they would have to pay for it. They in turn offered to pay for the portion they had eaten. [How exactly do you determine the portion of jambalaya consumed?] Not long thereafter a local policeman showed up and advised them they would be arrested if they didn't pay. Finally, a paid receipt was discovered and they were allowed to leave. Their lawsuit alleges they were falsely arrested; wrongfully detained and had other civil rights violated.

Couple of interesting notes about this one. First off, this is the second such lawsuit filed against the restuarant. The first plaintiff however had actually been arrested after refusing to pay for her dish. She recovered $32,000. Seems that mother and daughter team saw an article in the Sun-Times discussing the first case. And after reading the article, they suddenly realized that they too had been traumatized back in November of 2002 at the VERY SAME RESTUARANT. Phone calls are made and suddenly a federal lawsuit is born.

Finally, some free legal advice to the restuarant. LOTS of people read that article about the first diner and her recovery. The only thing they remembered is that somebody got $32,000. LOTS of people are suddenly going to start complaining about your food. When that happens, apologize, remove the plate, take the item off the bill and hell, comp the dessert. It's got to be cheaper than paying an attorney to defend restuarant malpractice in federal court.