Palm Beach Orthopedic Institute, P.A.

I made an appt with this group, and upon signing in, I was given the usual forms to fill out prior to being seen by a doctorHowever, contained in this stack of usual forms, was one that I have never seen in any other doctor's visitAn ARBITRATION AGREEMENTThis form has the effect of DENYING a patient's right to sue a doctor in a court of law and seek a jury trialThis right is a god given right granted to us by our U.SConstitution, but this group wants me to give up this right before I am even seenArbitration not only surrenders a patient's rights to a jury trial, it is also prohibitively expensive for the plaintiffAnd even if the patient does undertake the extreme costs to pursue a liability claim, arbitration panels almost always award less to the plaintiffThis 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 excessive by doctors, well, they typically do not stay in business for long, as businesses who seek their services will go elsewhereThey will look for a private arbitration firm that seeks to benefit them, and not the patientIt basically comes down to who do you want to look to for help if your doctor commits malpractice and harms you greatlyAn 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 one-time 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 patientWhereas, 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 youDoctors 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 malpracticeFinally, it should also be mentioned, that this group of doctors choose not to carry malpractice insuranceWhich 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 optionalI was told that I had to sign it or I would be refused serviceSo, in essence, this group of doctors want their patients to give up their rights, right then and there, without consultation from an attorney, if they come to them for help and treatmentThese doctors are hoping that you will blindly sign this agreement without questionYou 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 rightsNo doctor is worth thisEspecially 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 moneyBut save money for who? These doctors do not charge less than other doctors within the professionMy copay is the same and my insurance company pays them the same as other doctors that do NOT require I sign an arbitration agreementSo, 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 doctorsIt's not to save the patient money, but instead, an increase of profits to the doctorsCombine this with the fact that these doctors are also not paying for malpractice insurance, a lot of money is being savedMoney meant as a cost for protection of patientsMoney in their pocket
Anyway, I refuse to see any doctor that tells me I have to give up my rights in order to see himI have been to many doctors and I have never before been asked to give up this very important rightThis isn't a can of soup I am buying, this is my health, my life I am trusting him withAnd 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 formThis is my life at stake, and I want what is best for me, & these guys are not it
Don't take my word, Google arbitration agreements and doctors, and see what the consensus is on the subject & who it benefitsYou will find it is not the patient