Shirley Mudra wrote on March 04, 2008 09:58 AM: Hoorah for Jane Ann! I used the information on this web site constantly. And was so very disappointed when it changed and I had to call and balance the phone while I wrote the information down. Jane Ann is absolutely correct -- the information was rapidly read to me. However, I was persistent and insistant about having this information so I had the person repeat and repeat until I wrote it all down. This wasted both our times.
I have forwarded this article to all my friends and urged them to consider placing a call. I hope more people will respond by phoning the number listed. Choose option "O" after you get the 1-888 number. Interesting that they do not ask your name. I asked if it was wanted and was told "no." Keep on this people. And the patient who do not take charge of being interested in their own care is foolish. Questions - questions. Are you not worth protecting yourself? Or interested in slanting the odds in your favor by finding out who you are going to ahead of time rather than solely going on another doctor's recommendation? And don't be fooled by the statement "if you were my mother, I would send you to him." I think the doctors learned this in doctoring psychology 101. It is text-book. We all need doctoring and we have an obligation to insist on doing our part to improve Nevada medical practices. And only you can do that by expecting more accountability and that begins with having access to more information such as this web site that has been drastically reducted. You go girl (Jane Ann.)

JenniferK wrote on March 03, 2008 04:01 PM: Funny thing, the Nevada Board of Medical Examiners telling Jane Ann that they will give out malpractice claim information over the telephone.

I was catastrophically injured in 2003. In 2006, when my lawyers were preparing for trial, the defendant's insurance company was using "Boxers Doc" for an expert witness. My own doctor kept dropping hints to me that there was something wrong with Boxers Doc.

I told my lawyer, and he assigned me the task of trying to find Boxers Doc's story. I called the Medical Board twice, and they refused to tell me anything. My lawyer called them, and he was stonewalled too.

Finally, my lawyer hired a private investigator, who unearthed the fact that Boxers Doc had been sued for Medicare fraud, had two ugly malpractice judgments against him in Nevada, and was really not on the UN Med School staff. Needless to say, the defendant's insurance company withdrew Boxers Doc as a witness in my case. Apparently even the insurance company which hired the guy as an expert didn't know he was radioactive.

However, my lawyer saw the insurance defense attorney at a social function, and the insurance defense attorney had a "funny" story to tell. Some kid was injured, and Boxers Doc was the treating physician. When it was time for Boxers Doc to testify, that same insurance defense lawyer used the malpractice history, which the Nevada Medical Board refused to disclose, to destroy Boxer Doc's credibility. So some poor kid who was seriously injured, and treated by Boxers Doc, was blindsided and did not recover anything for his injury.

Clearly, the Board of Medical Examiners plays "hide the information" to allow bad doctors to continue to practice medicine on trusting Nevadans.

Their real policy: "We disclose nothing".

MyersandGomel wrote on March 01, 2008 03:19 PM: Not long ago an organization named "Keep Our Doctors in Nevada" pressured the Nevada Legislature into an emergency session and persuaded the Nevada citizens to vote for medical malpractice protection, all in the name of a phony "medical malpractice crisis." Dr. Dipak Desai and the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada were behind the Keep Our Doctors in Nevada group, shelling out at least $25,000 to buy protection from injured patients. As a result, medical providers, INCLUDING DR. DESAI AND HIS CLINIC, are protected by caps on damage awards. Does anyone now think $350,000 is adequate compensation for the pain and suffering that will be endured by any patient of Dr. Desai who contracts HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis B, or Hepatitis C?

Like many lawyers who represent injured medical patients, our law firm, Myers & Gomel, fought against the caps, and I can tell you this is precisely the type of situation we were concerned about when the doctors and their insurance companies used the "Keep Our Doctors in Nevada" fear campaign to achieve their selfish goal of protective caps. The truth is we shouldn't keep doctors like Dr. Desai in Nevada, and doctors like Dr. Desai don't deserve protective caps so they can practice sub-standard medicine with no fear of a jury's verdict.

This is a real "medical malpractice crisis," and it will not be the last one unless and until doctors like Dr. Desai can be held accountable in full for the pain and suffering caused by such blatant and irresponsible malpractice. Nevada voters should demand that the doctors' special shield laws be repealed and that they be treated like the rest of us.

NVDoc wrote on February 29, 2008 11:19 AM: I actually agree with Ms. Morrison's column. I have nothing to hide and I want my patients to look up and ask me about my history. I have no problem with that at all. I do have a problem with people like "NV is for rejects" poster below calling every doctor in NV "incompetent and dangerous." There are good and bad physicians in every state. The good ones never make the front page of the RJ. So if you want to go out of state for healthcare, maybe you should just stay there.

You get over yourself wrote on February 29, 2008 08:43 AM: To the NV doc who wrote comment.....You seem to be the REJECT!!!The community likes to hear from Jane Morrison, patients should be able to check on the care providers at any time, just as you so called dr's check on the patients and make your judgement on them....GET OVER YOURSELF!!!!

David Johann wrote on February 28, 2008 09:05 PM: Oops:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=87783148

David Johann wrote on February 28, 2008 09:05 PM: Health Care
Poll: Broad Support for Requiring Health Coverage

by Richard Knox

Morning Edition, February 29, 2008 · A new poll on health care from NPR, the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health finds that a majority of Americans are backing key elements in the health reform proposals of Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

The poll also found very strong support for doing something about the problem of 50 million Americans being uninsured — 93 percent call it a serious problem, with 74 percent saying it's a very serious problem.

http://www.lvrj.com/news/16068002.html

NV Doc wrote on February 28, 2008 06:03 PM: People like you, Reject, is why Nevada is what it is. Stop complaining and do something good for society. I went to school and I am proud to work and take care of the people in my home state. There are other places you can move if you don't like it here. Get over yourself.

NV Is For REJECTS wrote on February 28, 2008 01:09 PM: What do the powerful, rich and elite of Nevada society do for healthcare? They go Out Of State. That ought to tell everyone about the quality of medical care here. It is too bad. It seems like the most corrupt of every category of professions see Nevada as a sanctuary: pedophile teachers; lawless politicians and judges; incompetent and dangerous doctors; unethical and greedy lawyers; the list goes on and on...