Any victim of medical malpractice knows that injuries from a doctor’s negligence are severe and can result in long-term, expensive treatment. When an act of medical negligence results in a birth injury, it will impact the child for a lifetime. Yet, tort reform advocates want to limit a victim’s ability to recover damages for their medical malpractice injury.
Tort reform advocates argue that eliminating high dollar jury verdicts in medical malpractice lawsuits will cut medical malpractice insurance premiums for doctors. Lower premiums will lead to more doctors, claim the proponents of tort reform. However, one of our blogs earlier this week cited data showing that medical malpractice lawsuits are only a fraction of all personal injury lawsuits. In addition, the number of doctors in America has been on the rise over the years.
More costly than medical malpractice lawsuits is the practice of defensive medicine by doctors. Defensive medicine is when doctors order tests and procedures to lower their chances of being sued by a patient. A 2005 study in Health Affairs magazine reported that defensive medicine accounts for 9 percent of all health-care spending. By comparison, medical malpractice lawsuits accounted for less than 1 percent of health-care spending.
Harrell & Nowak, L.L.C. – New Orleans medical malpractice attorneys