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by Luann Pallister

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Are We Too Eager to Sue One Another in America Today?

With a question such as "are we too eager to sue one another in America today", we have to ask if there is a reason why more are suing today. Are we as a nation less concerned over the outcome of our actions today than we were in the past? That is the question that needs to be answered in order to decide of Americans are too eager to sue today.

I grew up in the 1960s. Yes, times were turbulent then, but there were values that existed back then that don't exist today. My sister and I would go downtown together on Saturdays and buy our candy at a local store that had penny candies. We would use our allowance of $.50/wk to buy candy and toys. At that time it was expected that kids could hang out safely at the candy store, sit together and eat their candy and laugh. The owners of the stores were more tolerant than store owners today, but they also didn't worry about us kids coming in to rob them or do damage to the store. We just didn't do things like that back then, at least in our town.

When we went to see a doctor back then, it was because we 'needed' to see one. It wasn't like today when you run to the doctor for every little thing. Back then you traveled to see doctors because they weren't on every street corner. We traveled 25 miles one way to the doctor. When the doctor diagnosed, we trusted and had a relationship with that doctor that was built on trust. We trusted him with our lives.

For the most part, doctors back then weren't concentrating on being the rich as they are today; they were family doctors with families and lived within the community, interacting as a normal part of society. The focus was on getting a person better and if you had money to pay for the care wasn't the first agenda, it was the last. First on the agenda was to diagnose, treat and payment came later.

Not many had health insurance back then, so the cost of getting care from a doctor was fairly cheap and hospital stays kept you there until you were healed, not until your insurance ran out. The focus was on the patient, not on the doctor's income. Many doctors even took exchange items for the care, such as surgery for a hog or treat me for my asthma and I'll make you a quilt or have you over for dinner for a special meal. Not being able to pay didn't exist back then. All were able to get health care if they needed it and people didn't run for any little thing! By the time you got to the doctor, it was serious.

In the 60s, car insurance was within a family's budget that was affordable, not like today where your car insurance is more than your car payment. Back in the 60s, the bad boys were the ones who drove the fast cars; the rest of society obeyed the laws and had consideration for other people in other cars. Today there is very little consideration among drivers for other drivers and it seems to be the "me first" syndrome and forget about the other guy.

Back in the 60s, if you got bad service or an employee gave you bad service, if a doctor made a wrong decision, if someone hit you with their car, the sole focus was to settle things honestly and in the favor of the one that was wronged. It was rare that the customer wasn't always right. It was rare that a doctor treated you for something you weren't to be treated for because life was slower back then. So they weren't as busy.

If someone was wronged, it was worked out where they would receive medical care for a period of time with no fee to make up for the mistake and people weren't focusing on how much they could take you for, they were ready to settle for a fair trade. If someone broke something of yours, they would replace it without being taken to court. If you had bad service or someone gave you bad information about a product, the company would make it up to you.

Today, in 2009 the values are much different. Businesses look out for themselves and care very little for the consumer. If they sell you something that doesn't work, you have to prove you bought it from them, they question you and if they aren't satisfied with the answer, they refuse to make the deal right. Thus, a motive for a law suit.

If you are under the care of a doctor, your ability to pay is more important than anything. I was hospitalized in 2008 because my legs and arms were uncontrollably jerking and jumping around. I was put in the hospital and taken off all my medications. They didn't care about my comfort and attempt to replace those medications for my arthritis and disk disease because I was poor and couldn't pay. I went into a seizure that was very serious and it took hours to get help because I was in that hospital without insurance.

The next day I had a spinal tap and after that, I sunk into what is called a "walking coma", where I was interacting and walking around but I have no memory of any of that and actually spent the week with my deceased Father, where he was showing me what my job in Heaven would be if I decided to stay. After a week, I was told I would be sent home after a neurologist talked to me and that was my first memory.

My family doctor had tried to have me committed because of the strange behaviors I displayed during that week but a policeman and a social worker fought to get me medical attention. The neurologist came in after the family doctor had left, hours later, and told my husband and I that I had Encephalitis and it would take some time to heal from it.

I was then sent home without any further treatment. After I heard that, I don't remember anything for 2 days. I don't remember going home from the hospital or stopping to eat at our favorite restaurant. And as my husband and daughter told me things I had said and done while in the hospital, I discovered I had no memory of those things. I tried leaving the hospital because I was angry that they weren't diagnosing me. That is when the doctor tried to commit me. What they didn't realize is that my brain was swelling and I was in a very fragile condition.

So now, I have short term memory loss. I put things away somewhere and then can't remember where I put them. I can't understand a conversation if two people are talking at the same time. I can't type while I'm listening to someone or listen to someone if I am typing. I used to type 70 words per minute, now on a good day I can do 57 words per minute if there is no noise in the house and no one is talking. If there is noise I type 25 to 42 words per minute. If I am doing something and I'm interrupted, I can't remember what I was doing. If I set a timer, I have to tell someone what it is for, because when the timer rings, I don't remember what it was set for.

My family doctor never knew I had encephalitis and still thinks I'm crazy, never read my chart to see the diagnosis. I was refused treatment by the neurologist because I couldn't pay my $500 bill from the hospital in one payment and pay for the appointment in cash because I didn't have insurance.

Encephalitis, in a coma for a week, and sent home without aftercare-what a week. My husband's heart doctor was the one that gave me free advice to do puzzles and try to learn something new every day to get over the heavy effects of the Encephalitis. I used that advice to look up treatment for Encephalitis after being home and learned how to work to heal some of the effects, but the short term memory loss is permanent and will be something I will deal with for the rest of my life. That's where I learned about the "walking coma."

I have not yet sued, but truly, I'm considering it because I used to be a person with a 138 IQ and could do many things at once. Now I'm lucky if I can make two decisions at once. But instead of responding to my complaints, the hospital is reporting me as a bad debt and the doctors refused to see me because I didn't have insurance.

When people have car accidents today, the goal is to get the most you can for your accident which involves a law suit, instead of admitting what they did and paying for the medical expenses and the damage to the car like they used to back in the 60s.

So the question is not are people more sue happy today, but are circumstances today with how businesses treat their consumers to blame? If businesses treated their customers the way they used to, there wouldn't be a need to sue. If people treated people with respect and took responsibilities for their actions today like they used to in the 60s, there wouldn't be a need to sue.

Our society has changed in such a severe way that many times, the only way to get justice is to sue. So no, I don't think that Americans are eager to sue one another in America today, they are responding to the way society is now self-centered and to get justice you almost have to sue!

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