Personal Injury Law

Study shows that growth in Medical Malpractice claims is exaggerated

By Hurley, McKenna & Mertz

A blog on the New York Times (6/6) website discusses the different points of view on the medical malpractice ?crisis?. Jeremy Peters wrote, "For years?health care lobbyists have argued that the exceedingly high cost of medical malpractice insurance was a result of a runaway legal system that allowed juries to award huge judgments to victims of doctors' mistakes."

However, "a new report from an independent government watchdog group suggests that those claims are exaggerated." The study by the New York Public Interest Research Group found that "the amount of money paid for malpractice claims in New York has actually fallen in recent years, and that the number of overall claims has remained remarkably stable.? Tom Baker wrote in his book, The Medical Malpractice Myth (U. Chicago Press), that a ?California study, as confirmed by more recent, better publicized studies? verifies ?that the real problem is too much medical malpractice, not too much litigation.? He found that ?most people do not sue, which means that victims?not doctors, hospitals, or liability insurance companies?bear the lion?s share of the costs of medical malpractice.?

Many public complaints about the medical malpractice ?crisis? have been greatly exaggerated. Doctors who have not exercised due care with their patients should be liable for injuries their negligence caused. As a medical malpractice lawyer, I provide a service to those who have been injured by the negligence of medical care providers.

Full post as published by Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer Blog on June 09, 2009 (boomark / email).