After studying multiple chapters of The Story of the World that involved ancient leaders who were brutal and ruthless rulers over their people, today we studied Hammurabi. Unlike, many of his predecessors, Hammurabi held his people to a more "civilized" system of justice. He actually developed laws that were applicable to everyone. For better or worse, these somtimes brutal laws attempted to promote a standard of goodness among the people.
As a part of our lesson, I was instructed to ask Boy Wonder how he felt about some of Hammurabi's Code. The goal was for him to decide if the rules were just and fair. The first few rules were simple and obviously reasonable rules, such as: "If someone cuts down a tree on someone else's land, he will pay for it." The further we got down the list, however, the rules became a little more drastic.
I couldn't help but laugh when Boy Wonder informed me that the rule "If a doctor operates on a patient and the patient dies, the doctor's hand will be cut off," was a fair rule. I suppose the fact that Mommy is a medical malpractice lawyer who is regularly involved in lawsuits where things go drastically wrong with patient care has somehow rubbed off. But because I'm not quite as vicious as some might believe, I explained to Boy Wonder that it wouldn't be appropriate to cut off a doctor's hand just because his patient dies. This led to a wonderful discussion over medical liability, which Boy Wonder grasped better than many adults I know.
Yes, sometimes patients die after surgery and the surgeon did the best he could and the best that could be expected of him to do. Sometimes patients just have bad outcomes that could not be prevented.
But, as Hammurabi so clearly understood, sometimes doctors do fail their patients. Many bad outcomes are preventable. And if a patient gets injured or dies because a doctor provides really awful care, then the doctor should reimburse the patient for the pain, suffering, and cost of the injury. That's why injured patients file lawsuits. They seek recovery for the wrong that was committed to them by the physician (or whoever) who messed up. This is both reasonable and logical for a patient who has endured suffering at the hands of someone who should have done better. In many cases, a patient has to sue in order to cover the cost of medical bills, time away from work, childcare, etc. A lawsuit is not something that they're excited about. Too often, patients won't be able to eat or pay their bills without it.
It's funny how so many people don't get the medical malpractice concept. I mean, if I'm a painter and walk in your house and spill paint everywhere, you have every right to seek reimbursement from me for the damage I cause. Everyone who provides a service to someone else should be held to this standard. Their is no I-went-to-medical-school exemption. We are all expected to do our best in a good and reasonable way all the time.
Hammurabi was extreme with many of his laws. But he got one thing right. It's a theme that is repeated throughout the code: If you do something to wrong another, you should do what it takes to restore that person to their original place or reimburse them for your wrongdoing. It's such a simple concept that even my 5 year old gets it!
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