Is It Time for Malpractice Reform?

American Prospect by Joanne Kenen | Nov. 20, 2009 (News Analysis)
Detroit sells its Silverdome for less than a one-bedroom apartment, Goldman Sachs reports huge profits, and three congressmen warn New Yorkers of terrorism.

Year after year, Republicans try to pass legislation that would limit medical malpractice awards. Fix the tort system, they argue, and we fix rising health-care costs. And year after year, Democrats resist placing arbitrary caps on awards to people who may have suffered from an egregious medical error. The fight plays out like a predictable old Western -- good guys versus bad guys. Depending on your politics, the villain is either the greedy doctor or the ... Full Story »

Posted by Kaizar Campwala - via NewsRack (Health Care)

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Subjects: U.S., Politics, Health
Topics: Law, Health Care
Member Tags: health care reform
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Posted by: Posted by Kaizar Campwala - Nov 20, 2009 - 6:47 AM PST
Reviewed by: Kaizar Campwala (review), Derek Hawkins (review), Patricia L'Herrou (review), Fred Gatlin (review), Randy Morrow (review), Gary Clark (review), Dwight Rousu (review)
Content Type: Article
Edit Lock: This story can be edited
Edited by: Derek Hawkins - Nov 21, 2009 - 10:36 AM PST
Related Comments: Health Care (8)

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Dwight Rousu
3.8
 by Dwight Rousu - Nov. 23, 2009

Kenen provides a researched and interesting look at alternative systems for resolving disputes on bad results from medical care. She fails to quantify the small number of cases and small total cost of malpractice suits, which tend to show the cost of malpractice insurance is more an insurance company problem than a problem of costly payouts.

Numerous studies have shown that the majority of patients who suffer a medical error are not compensated, while a select few win outsized awards. More »

See Full Review » (13 answers)
Gary Clark
4.5
 by Gary Clark - Nov. 21, 2009

This article lays out the possible solutions to the quality of care problems that tort reform fails to address, in a fair and critical analysis.

This is exactly the focus congress avoids in its rush to pass anything that remotely appears to be health care reform.

Whatever happens, Congress should not maintain the malpractice status quo — it lets systemic flaws fester, while paradoxically encouraging us to conflate bad outcomes ... More »

See Full Review » (21 answers)
Patricia L'Herrou
4.0
 by Patricia L'Herrou - Nov. 22, 2009

an issue which needs to be addressed is discussed at length in this story. included is more information than is usually available in msm stories about methods currently tried and could be tried to do something about medical lawsuits to help contain doctors' costs which can be passed on to contain health care costs

See Full Review » (10 answers)
Fred Gatlin
3.7
 by Fred Gatlin - Dec. 12, 2009

This is a well written and good article that hits most of the malpractice points. The one point missed is for profit doctors or salaried doctors and there affects on suits.

See Full Review » (11 answers)
Kaizar Campwala
3.6
 by Kaizar Campwala - Nov. 22, 2009

Health-care reform is about more than covering more Americans and controlling costs. It’s also about quality. Repairing health care requires “delivery-system ... More »

Kaizar posted this story.
See Full Review » (6 answers)
Randy Morrow
3.2
 by Randy Morrow - Nov. 21, 2009
See Full Review » (10 answers)
Derek Hawkins
3.5
 by Derek Hawkins - Nov. 20, 2009

“Health courts” remains a catchall phrase; the AMA and lawyers’ organizations certainly don’t agree on what would ... More »

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