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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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.

So the problem would seem to be that there are not enough suits to provide justice.

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Dwight's Rating

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4.5
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5.0
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