Personal Injury Law

The Myth of the Fleeing Medical Student

By Steven M. Levin and John J. Perconti

As with many issues related to medical malpractice, misinformation abounds. Insurance companies and the powerful medical lobby are often willing to perpetuate distorted truths about the effect of malpractice lawsuits in an effort to influence policy in their preferred direction. Through it all, it is important to keep sight of the truth about the fair access to justice for all medical patients.

For example, Chicago Now recently published a letter by the president of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association that debunks a skewed study which attempted to paint the picture that medical students were fleeing Illinois because of malpractice laws in the state.

The letter explained that the ?study? which claimed to reach that conclusion was nothing more than a survey paid for by the Illinois Hospital Association and the Illinois State Medical Society Insurance Company?two groups that have much to gain from taking away the legal rights of malpractice victims.

Yet, even then the survey reveals not that medical students leave Illinois because of malpractice lawsuits but instead because the Illinois legal market is ?oversaturated.? Oversaturation, of course, means that there are already more than enough doctors in certain areas. That is a far cry from doctor?s ?fleeing? the state because of legal rights. Besides that, many of the other students who leave the state are doing so because they never intended to stay in Illinois anyway.

Full post as published by Illinois Medical Malpractice Blog on December 26, 2010 (boomark / email).