For one doctor, cap is an insult

By Sarah Avery, Staff Writer

Dr. John Faulkner did not have the time or the inclination to rally at the legislature with 1,700 of his colleagues Tuesday.

For one thing, his schedule was full. The family physician had household chores and the daily hubbub that five children create with school, homework, lessons, practices. And, as he has done for the past 10 months, he had to care for his wife, Joan.

His wife was the other reason he was not marching with the doctors to call for a cap on medical malpractice lawsuits. Joan Faulkner was badly burned last June when a cauterizing tool ignited oxygen that was being pumped into her nose during a routine procedure in an operating room.

Her top lip was melted off; her face, neck and chest suffered second- and third-degree burns that will require numerous reconstructive surgeries. After a three-week hospitalization, she was released to begin a new life coping with constant pain, numbed by powerful medications that sap energy and drive. She once tended to the children with delight and precision, but she now cedes all but a few tasks to her husband.

The couple, who live in North Raleigh, have filed a lawsuit in Franklin County Superior Court against Franklin Regional Medical Center, its corporate owner and the doctors who performed the procedure. Efforts to reach hospital officials were unsuccessful.

Because Joan Faulkner, 44, stayed at home, she is not eligible for economic damages calculated on lost earnings. And under the bill supported by the state's doctors, the value of her pain and suffering would be $250,000 or less.

"It's an insult," John Faulkner said. "If you can cap my wife's pain and suffering, we'd be delighted. But until you can cap my wife's pain and suffering, you shouldn't cap what it's worth. That's for a jury to decide."

Faulkner, 47, said he is dismayed that doctors have chosen to fight medical malpractice insurance rates by attacking the rights of patients injured by neglect or error. He said the insurance industry stands to gain, while patients lose.

"It seems to us to be thoughtless and cruel," he said. "This is not the kind of behavior you would expect from physicians who, by their very nature, should be the patient's advocate. We know that the insurance companies don't care about the patients. They answer to Wall Street. The question is, who is really behind this?"