Scared and Angry — Spent Hours in Emergency Room

[Shi Huangdi]

I agree with Michael the Great. This isn't a "spill hot coffee on yourself" type of issue, they left a freaking nail in the middle of the area sticking straight up. That is something you just don't do and is an accident waiting to happen. If I were put through that kind of pain and suffering, I would want compensation for it.

[Spiffor]

After reading MtG's post, I'm even more glad than before not to be an American.

[MichaeltheGreat]

Why, spiff, so you can leave nails stuck through boards in dark places with impunity?

[MichaeltheGreat]

Originally posted by Ted Striker
MTG = attorney Larry H. Parker

Parker is a shyster with a million paralegals working for him. The successor in ambulance fumes to Sam Spital and Gouge 'em and Sham, if those two clowns are still around.

Seriously, though - 95% chance they were checking on you in the emergency room and everything else as part of their policy for potential insurance / litigation claims.

If you decide not to sue, don't ever sign a general release, though, or any other release, because if something happens like a bit of foreign material got missed an inch down into your wound, and you develop an abscess two months down the road, you'd be on your own.

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by MichaeltheGreat
Why, spiff, so you can leave nails stuck through boards in dark places with impunity?

No, but I am under the impression that here, the average reflex is not to use an accident as an excuse to milk as much money as possible (it's coming though).
Most probably, the police would have come and shut the place down until the attraction would obey security rules again. Edit: and the insurance companies, or the operators themselves would have paid for health-related costs. If not, they would probably be forced to by a court.

But here, courts are still not seen as a big jackpot.

[Gatekeeper]

MtG:

Wow. I'll certainly keep what you wrote in mind.

So far, the only release I've signed was to get out of the ER after they treated me — basically saying I'd seen the doctor and that I would follow his instructions on treating the wound. I haven't signed anything from the operators yet.

Another thing is, the attraction is a seasonal one run by a local group that uses city property on which to run the attraction. The guy I talked to last night, though, was a city official, not from the group itself. We're not exactly a large metropolitan area here — I'd hate to do anything that attracts undue attention to myself, or keeps them from being able to offer the attraction again next year.

Gatekeeper

[Dr Strangelove]

Sorry to hear about your leg GK. Whatever you do, don't sue the doctor.

[Pekka]

Dark maze, and there's a nail there, just waiting to get stepped on? That sounds WEAK.. I'd suppose you should be extra careful setting up those things, if people are going to be in the dark and wandering there.. In here you couldn't sue for that, but in there.. I don't know.. I'd at least think about it. If they didn't apologize at all, then I'd sue for sure. If they did apologize sincerely.. I guess I'd let it go.

That's pretty painful I figure.. You know, when I was 9 or 10, I was playing in the woods by myself and climbing the trees and found a treehouse. It was pretty shaky looking and old, and naturally I climbed in it only to fall down (not high) and to a rusty nail on the ground sticking out from a board. Luckily I had good sneakers on, put the nail did penetrate my heal.. talkign about pain.. had to walk all the way back home and it stunned my foot all the way to my thigh good.. but that was pretty much about it though.

But I'm glad you're reasonably OK. Just think about it, that could have taken your eye out. Or someone elses if you didn't trip first. So I guess now you know what it feels to get stabbed.. I hope it won't leave a nasty mark on you.

[MichaeltheGreat]

The city is the one with the liability issue, because they're the deep pocket, at least in relative terms.

Even if you let them slide, they may decide it's unacceptable risk because the next guy might not.

If you wanted to be nice, you could basically get something equivalent to a couple of days of pay for a long weekend, or if the city has any sort of paid attractions like museums, theater, whatever, get them to spring for you. You don't have to be greedy, and you can let it slide, but lots of folks are altruistic and end up letting greaseballs get away with things.

One of the most interesting studies I've seen was about litigation and medical malpractice. It turns out about half of malpractice suits are bogus money grabs (no surprise there), but an equal number of claims which medical personnel (not lawyers) found to be clear malpractice were never litigated - patients just accepted the docs screwing them up, causing long term consequences, and were weenies about it. That, IMO, is even worse than the moneygrabbing bogus suits (for which I think both plaintiffs and lawyers should be severely punished), because it lets the incompetent and careless continue to get away with it.

In an ideal world, negligence is a very rare thing, and the negligent party makes a genuine effort to make things right, and nobody uses the very occasional incident as a ticket to freemoneyland - but we don't live in an ideal world.

The solution is to be reasonable - don't bend over, and don't force the other guy to bend over, but deal reasonably. I've had a couple of things where I let people off the hook, in return for them demonstrating to me the steps they'd take so that someone else didn't get messed up.

[MichaeltheGreat]

Originally posted by Dr Strangelove
Sorry to hear about your leg GK. Whatever you do, don't sue the doctor.

Yeah, stick it to the docs! Those guys are all rich and heavily insured, and he probably hurried up his exam with you because he had a hot date with his girlfriend.

[Lefty Scaevola]

Originally posted by Gatekeeper
I'm curious. If what happened to me happened to my fellow 'Poly members who are talking about lawsuits, would you really file a lawsuit right away? Or is this just a kind of "wink and a nod" type of situation?
I mean, right now I just want to heal, and have my insurance handle things (and, if I have to pay anything, to get reimbursed).
Gatekeeper

If your medical insurance pays anything, that company will control the lawsuit for any convered part of the damage, and the insurance will contract will madate that you do no screw up any of their rights while working on the non covered parts.

[MichaeltheGreat]

Originally posted by Spiffor

No, but I am under the impression that here, the average reflex is not to use an accident as an excuse to milk as much money as possible (it's coming though).
Most probably, the police would have come and shut the place down until the attraction would obey security rules again. Edit: and the insurance companies, or the operators themselves would have paid for health-related costs. If not, they would probably be forced to by a court.

But here, courts are still not seen as a big jackpot.

We used to have a similar setup here, but the result was that the negligent party really had no incentive not to be - worst case, he had to do what he should have done in the first place, best case, you could take some shortcuts and make an extra buck or two.

As old and beat up as my body currently is, I'd genuinely prefer not to get any more holes in it, or anything new broken, etc., but if some careless ******* does something to mess me up, and it's his fault and not mine, I can't give him the broken whatever it is, and say "here, you deal with the pain and the pain in the ass and the inconvenience, and I'll go back to minding my business like I was doing before you were a dumbass" - the theory (which doesn't lend itself to a money machine) is that you should be compensated to an equivalent value for whatever you've lost, economically or otherwise.

[Nubclear]

Super-condensed version of this thread...

GATEKEEPER: I hurt myself and it's their fault. It REALLY hurts. Should I sue?
EVERYONE ELSE: Yes.

[Kaak]

damn sue happy biatches

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by MichaeltheGreat
the theory (which doesn't lend itself to a money machine) is that you should be compensated to an equivalent value for whatever you've lost, economically or otherwise.

This theory I accept. Unfortunately, you're always talking about ambulance chasers, and I think these people show that something is very broken with your system.

The fact that you suggest to Gatekeeper to exaggerate his pain or to lie outright about it, simply so that he's not on his own if the wound complicates itself later, shows that something is wrong in America. At least in my worldview.

Don't take this personally: I think you have given good advice to Gatekeeper given his environment. It's not you that I criticize, it's said environment.