[GeneV]

I agree that the suit is ridiculous; as are, IMHO, most malpractice suits.

Really? With all due respect, what do you (or I) know about "most" medical malpractice suits? The silly ones get the publicity.

[reeftool]

From the article, this appears to have gone way beyond a malpractice suit and they are actually being charged with a crime by the government. There is a difference. The problem with warnings is that often there will be false alarms, even with weather forecasts. There have been people who have tried to sue weather forecasters for losses when the predicted severe weather didn't happen. I believe they are protected now from such silliness.

[fisheye freak]

If this crazy suit was to actually succeed, then is it the Italian government or people who are responsible for Mussolini? Given that science is not anywhere near predicting severe earthquakes, the hindsight arguement is crazy. If this suit succeeds, then the floodgates are open to sue for anything in hindsight. I do recall through history that the Romans did some pretty nasty things in the past. Rome owes the descendants of Carthage BIG TIME. Come to think of it, we ALL have some ancestral skeletons in the closet. I myself have a terrorist in the family skeleton chest. Perhaps we need a MASSIVE orgy of suing each other.

[dadipentak]

Perhaps we need a MASSIVE orgy of suing each other.

Sounds like fun! Will there be refreshments?

[RoxnDox]

Sounds like fun! Will there be refreshments?

Of course! Geologists love "refreshments"

Jim

[Parallax]

Of course! Geologists love "refreshments"

Served "on the rocks"?


Sorry.

[paperbag846]

Bill Gates is not a scientist. His well-paid job is to teach the silicon how to work for us.

Bill Gates does not do anything. He dominated the software world by *purchasing* others hard work and * forcibly* selling it to us through a private deal with IBM (where IBM had *no* idea how badly they were getting screwed).

As for the scientists - this just goes to show how people don't respect how difficult the project of science really is. It's sad. I hope they come through ok.

The job of a doctor is to do the *best they can*. PS - doctors in countries other than the US do not face court nearly as often as those in the ass-backwards medical system you see in the US. Sorry, but it's true. Money grubbing is the name of the game.

[GeneV]

The job of a doctor is to do the *best they can*. PS - doctors in countries other than the US do not face court nearly as often as those in the ass-backwards medical system you see in the US. Sorry, but it's true. Money grubbing is the name of the game.

That is not the legal standard of care for a doctor in any country where medical personnel hold themselves out as having a high degree of expertise. Nevertheless, most U.S. studies indicate medical mistakes kill about 100,000 people each year and injure 1,000,000 more. They are a leading cause of death. It is not just a case of "money-grubbing" that people seek damages.

In other countries, the entire deal between the medical system and the population is different. Medicine is free or heavily subsidized, the government pays for most of the cost of mistakes (including disability claims), and people don't sue or need to sue.

Once medicine becomes an expensive, highly profit-driven industry, consequences follow in the attitudes toward results. Our more individualistic approach holds people responsible for their own care, but the other side of that is that individuals are held responsible for their own mistakes.