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Medical Malpractice Facts
For years, the general public has heard a lot from politicians and special interest groups about medical malpractice claims and lawsuits. They claim the number of medical malpractice lawsuits runs doctors out of the state. They say the frequency of medical malpractice claims increases the cost of health care and health insurance, and causes the practice of “defensive medicine” where doctor order otherwise unnecessary expensive diagnostic tests. You usually don’t hear about any studies to back up these claims. Where do these special interest groups get the data to back up these claims? There can be no doubt that the people who publish these claims have their own selfish agenda, whether they are physicians’ groups, insurance companies, or politicians who depend on their contributions to get elected. Click on this link at the website of the Center for Justice & Democracy to read the real truth about medical malpractice lawsuits.
The CJD brief on medical malpractice tells us the following:
- Few injured patients file lawsuits or claims against their health care providers;
- The number of medical malpractice lawsuits has been dropping for years;
- The amounts of medical malpractice verdicts have been dropping for years;
- Physicians greatly misperceive their actual risk of being sued;
- Tort reform has no effect on so-called “defensive medicine”;
- Damage caps on medical malpractice cases do not reduce doctors’ liability insurance rates;
- Medical errors occur in alarming numbers and are extremely costly;
- Medical malpractice litigation improves patient safety
Don’t buy into special interest myths about medical malpractice. Read the full brief from the Center for Justice & Democracy for the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, about medical malpractice.
