Personal Injury Law

Call for Tort Reform Becomes a Distraction to Health Care Debate

By Steven M. Levin and John J. Perconti

Those opposed to real health care and health insurance reform are now using tort reform as a scapegoat to achieving real health care. Tort reform will hurt innocent patients injured through no fault of their own. The American Association for Justice has recently released a new analysis report entitled ?Five Myths About Medical Negligence.? The first myth is that there are too many ?frivolous? malpractice lawsuits. However, only one in eight people injured by medical negligence ever files a lawsuit. Also, malpractice claims do not drive up healthcare costs. In fact they consist of only .3 percent of health care costs. One popular myth is that doctors are fleeing due to medical malpractice, which is far from the truth. Likewise, medical malpractice claims do not drive up doctor?s premiums, like many pundits state. Finally, tort reform will not lower insurance rates. In the end, the most truthful statistic is that 98,000 people die each year from preventable medical errors. That, unfortunately, is not a myth. To read more myths about medical malpractice, please click the link.

Full post as published by Illinois Medical Malpractice Blog on December 09, 2009 (boomark / email).