I received a call from a reporter wanting to discuss the series I wrote on the medical apology shield. Like Participation Trophies the Apology Shield is society acting as if a lie is somehow the truth because enough people wish the lie were the truth. To prepare for the interview I read my old posts and once again I'm reminded of the Bush Era and its glorification of dishonest living coupled with its evil cousin greed. It makes me wonder aloud; who the brainless twit is that came up with the idea of the apology shield in professional negligence cases. They should be hung, drawn and quartered.

I do appreciate that good professionals make honest mistakes and that some professionals really are sorry for the hurt and inconvenience they have caused the client and patient. So trust me when I say I'm not picking on anyone.

When we talk about justice in America we're really talking about justice brought about by the people, not by judges who are tools of the establishment or prosecutors who are are equally tools of the establishment or the wardens or the police officers.
William Kunstler

What is the apology shield?

Learn how this plays out in court and you'll see this is State-sanctioned lying. Here is how it works. The legislature passes a law that says if a doctor or other professional makes a professional mistake, they can apologize to the patient and the apology can't later be admitted into evidence if they are sued. The idea came about because insurance companies discovered that some doctors who actually meant it were apologizing to patients and when they did the patients were less likely to sue the doctors for malpractice. Not wanting to miss an opportunity to make more money the insurance industry quickly donated money to every political war chest they could mail a check to and suggested a law that allowed unapologetic doctors to apologize and to be shielded. This they considered to be a good idea because it added to the float.  

The legislators then thought: If we can get campaign donations for passing this law it must be a good idea! So they crafted laws that say: if a professional makes a mistake, and then the doctor apologizes to the patient; the patient's and the patient's attorney can't later use it in court as evidence of wrongdoing. Well shucks Gomer that's brilliant! How much will you donate to my campaign?

Clip 1: "The Aura of Legality" (length 2:03)
The clip begins at 1:17:53 with Kunstler saying, "And that's the terrible myth..." It ends at 1:19:56 with the phrase "...without that pretense."

In theory it sounded good to the Scarecrow, but anyone giving this idea two seconds of thought quickly sees the practical, legal and moral problems with it. It's state sanctioned lying and encourages all the bad doctors who make the worse mistakes to offer a disingenuous apology and then to later take the stand (under oath) and to lie about having made a mistake. What moron came up with the idea to actually vote this out of a legislative committee?

TEN REASONS WHY THE APOLOGY SHIELD IS BAD STATE POLLICY, UNCONSTITUTIONAL AND IMMORAL

The apology shield is wrong for many reasons some of which include:

1. It's the Court's allowing State sanctioned lies and holding them out to the jury as if the apology were the truth while helping hide professional mistakes.

2. Apologies made under cover of the apology shield encourages fake apologies.

3. State sanctioned apology-lies hide from our view those doctors that genuinely wish to apologize, while encouraging those that aren’t sorry to lie.

4. The apology shield has the affect of hiding the truth and shielding lies.

5. The apology shield allows doctors, their attorneys and the Judges to suborn perjury.

6. The apology shield encourages those doctors who aren't sorry to offer a fake apology.

7. The fake apology makes patients distrust all apologies; no matter how genuine.

8. Laws such as the fake apology make citizens distrust the law, the political process, the Courts and everyone that is involved. They create the appearance of impropriety and foster less not more confidence in the political and legal process.

9. The apology shield allows professionals that take the stand to lie. Here is how: they make a mistake, then tell the patient they are sorry for making a medical error, then take the stand and under oath claim to the jury they did nothing wrong. Isn’t that a state sanctioned lie?

10. If after nine reasons you haven't understood why the apology shield is wrong perhaps you need to go back and read the Ten Commandments.

There is a good reason why I admire William Kunstler and his cadence of thought. Attorney Kunstler said it best when he said, just because it's legal doesn't make it right or moral. "And that's the myth of organized society, that everything that is done through the established system is legal. ... It makes people believe that there is an order to life and a system...

In this speech that is believed to have taken place in February, 1970, William Kunstler talks about what he thinks is the "terrible myth" of organized society: Because people trust the established legal system, they tend to accept its outcomes without much consideration. Citing several examples, Kunstler concludes that governments have used the law to put people to death throughout history, because this "aura of legality" is a very powerful thing and "all tyrants learn that it is far better to do this thing through some semblance of legality than to do it without that pretense."

This speech is as great or greater than those of President Kennedy or the Rev. Martin Luther King's greatest speeches. Because as he says all tyrants learn that it is far better to do this one thing through some semblance of legality than to do it without that pretense. And that's what we have with the apology shield, a pretense of truth, and the elevation of a lie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UL7Ct_urpUY

Read more:

POV - Documentaries with a point of view, IPTV, The Terrible Myth

Brainy Quote, William Kunstler

To read this series on the apology shield follow these links:

• Why Should I Apologize?, September 22, 2009
• "I'm very sorry.", but really I'm not., September 23, 2009
• An Apology Free From Risk, Isn't Really An Apology, September 24, 2009
• How To Expose The Fake Medical Apology, September 25, 2009
• Fixing Medical Malpractice by Fixing the Truth - The Apology Shield Law is like a fixed race.

  ---

Search Results

1.     Sitemap for Lombardi Law Firm | Lombardi Law Firm

 - 2 visits - 11/16/09

Fifth Wrong-Site Surgery at RI Hospital · AFTER MAKING A MISTAKE WHY SHOULD PROFESSIONALS APOLOGIZE? Apology Shield: Communist Styled, Government Sanctioned ...
www.lombardilaw.com/sitemap.cfm - Cached

2.     APOLOGY SHIELD, THE EMPORER'S NEW CLOTHES | Lombardi Law Firm

Oct 1, 2009 ... At Lombardi Law we make it a point to blog about the issues that affect those who are effected by accidents. Call us for a FREE evaluation ...
www.lombardilaw.com/.../apology-shield-the-emporers-new-clothes.cfm - Cached
From your Google Reader subscriptions

3.     Apology Shield: Detecting Truth with a Broken Lie Detector ...

Sep 26, 2009 ... At Lombardi Law we make it a point to blog about the issues that affect those who are effected by accidents. Call us for a FREE evaluation ...
www.lombardilaw.com/.../apology-shield-detecting-truth-with-a-broken-lie- detector.cfm - Cached
From your Google Reader subscriptions

4.     Apology Shield Examined - Why we apologize. | Lombardi Law Firm

Sep 24, 2009 ... At Lombardi Law we make it a point to blog about the issues that affect those who are effected by accidents. Call us for a FREE evaluation ...
www.lombardilaw.com/.../apology-shield-examined-why-we-apologize.cfm - Cached

►

5.     A Patients Understanding of the Medical Apology from Behind the ...

Sep 23, 2009 ... Thus, with the passage of a law, the apology shield, apology exclusion ... With the enactment of the apology shield state legislatures have ...
www.lombardilaw.com/.../a-patients-understanding-of-the-medical-apology- from-behind-the-shield.cfm - Cached

6.     How to expose the fake apology under the Medical Apology Shield ...

Sep 25, 2009 ... At Lombardi Law we make it a point to blog about the issues that affect those who are effected by accidents. Call us for a FREE evaluation ...
www.lombardilaw.com/.../how-to-expose-the-fake-apology-under-the- medical-apology-shield.cfm - Cached

7.     Apology Shield: Communist Styled, Government Sanctioned Official ...

Oct 3, 2009 ... At Lombardi Law we make it a point to blog about the issues that affect those who are effected by accidents. Call us for a FREE evaluation ...
www.lombardilaw.com/.../apology-shield-communist-styled-government- sanctioned-official-lies-or-official-news.cfm - Cached

8.     AFTER MAKING A MISTAKE WHY SHOULD PROFESSIONALS APOLOGIZE ...

Oct 5, 2009 ... And then there is the apology shield and what it teaches young doctors and medical students. How do the young people in society interpret ...
www.lombardilaw.com/.../after-making-a-mistake-why-should-professionals- apologize.cfm - Cached

9.     WHY SHOULD I APOLOGIZE? - Page 1 of 41 | Lombardi Law Firm

Sep 23, 2009 ... Tomorrow I'd like to talk about the medical community's character when it comes to the apology shield. The apology shield is a sign of the ...
www.lombardilaw.com/blog/why-should-i-apologize.cfm - Cached

10. Wrong-Site, Wrong-Procedure and Wrong-Patient Surgical Malpractice ...

Fifth Wrong-Site Surgery at RI Hospital · AFTER MAKING A MISTAKE WHY SHOULD PROFESSIONALS APOLOGIZE? Apology Shield: Communist Styled, Government Sanctioned ...
www.lombardilaw.com/.../what-do-you-do-when-youve-experienced-a- wrongsite-wrongpatient-or-wrongprocedure-surgical-error.cf... - Cached - Similar