Malpractice insurance is expensive. Most doctors would consider it necessary to purchase, because they are in fear of being sued for malpractice. It has been said that these cases are part of what drives up the cost of seeing a doctor, and the cost of health insurance. New York has tried something new that seems to reduce the number of malpractice cases.
When you go to see a doctor, you are trusting that he or she will choose the right course of treatment, and will properly administer it. Doctors are humans, though, which means that mistakes can sometimes be made. We live in a highly litigious society. The majority of people who feel that their doctor made a mistake will want to sue the doctor for malpractice.
Malpractice insurance is expensive. Doctors need this type of insurance in order to have some protection against getting sued. That extra cost that the doctor needs to pay out on malpractice insurance premiums could be passed on to the consumer. Overall, it has been said that the rising costs of malpractice insurance is part of what has caused the rise in the cost of health care.
I would hope that most malpractice cases are about instances where a doctor truly did make an egregious mistake, that dramatically reduced the quality of life for a patient. However, there are plenty of malpractice lawsuits that are considered to be “frivolous”.
A study that was done earlier this year found that most malpractice lawsuits result in the doctor winning the case, (not the patient). A new study that was published in the New England Journal of Medicine found similar results. The new study looked at malpractice claims that were filed between 1991 and 2005. A total of 78% did not result in a payment going to a patient.
Every year, physicians face about a 7.4% likelihood of facing a malpractice claim. Out of that group, only about 1.6% of claims will result in a payment received by a patient. This could come from an out of court settlement, or from a jury award. Yet, malpractice insurance remains expensive.
Judge Douglas E. McKeon, of the Supreme Court of Bronx County, New York, created a program designed to reduce the number of malpractice cases, and to encourage resolution of existing cases. The program requires judge-directed negotiation right from the very beginning of an individual malpractice case. This causes cases to be expedited. Perhaps this is the way to fix a broken system.
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