Essay on "Medical Malpractice & Frivolous Lawsuits in Health Care"

Essay 2 pages (756 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

However, there was a large degree of variation by specialty. Surgeons faced the highest rates of negligence claims at 19.1% for neurosurgeons, 18.9% for thoracic-cardiovascular surgeons, and 15.3% for general surgeons. On the other hand only 5.2% of family medicine physicians, 3.1% of pediatricians, and 2.6% of psychiatrists faced claims of negligence. By the age of 65, 75% of physicians in "low-risk" specialties have faced a complaint of medical malpractice, whereas 99% of physicians in "high risk" specialties were reported to have been sued by that point in their career (Walker, 2011).

In response, a number of states have taken steps to alleviate the rise in damages awarded to plaintiffs in malpractice suits, in the hopes of reversing this trend. In 2003 the Texas legislature passed a set of laws capping non-economic damages to $250,000 for claims against individual physicians and $500,000 for claims against medical institutions. This enactment has had an encouraging effect upon the number of physicians licensed in Texas. Since 2003 24,583 new physicians have been licensed in the state. Additionally, the proportion of "high risk" specialists within the state has also increased over this period (Walker, 2011).

Conclusion

The growth in malpractice premiums has the potential to profoundly affect the health care system. Premiums may influence physicians' decisions to join and leave the labor force, their choice of a medical specialty, and their decision of where to locate, creating the potential for underserved patient populations in certain specialties or geographic areas. Rising malpractice premiums may also encourage physicians to practice defensive medicine, performing more tests and procedures than necessary in order to reduce exposure to lawsuits. Both rising malpractice premiums and defensive medicine practices may contribute to the increase in health insurance premiums (Baicker & Chandra, 2004).

References

Baicker, K. & Chandra, A. (2004, August). "Do medical malpractice costs affect the delivery of health care?" (2006, March) The National Bureau of Econonmic Research. Retrieved January 24, 2013, from http://www.nber.org/aginghealth/fall04/w10709.html

Walker, J. (2011, December 5). Malpractice lawsuits in the U.S.: Trends over time and how recent reductions in damage awards could change medicine. Yale Journal of Medicine & Law: An Undergraduate Publication. Retrieved January 23, 2013, from http://www.yalemedlaw.com/2011/12/malpractice-lawsuits-in-the-us-trends-over-time-and-how-recent-reductions-in-damage-awards-could-change-medicine/

Writing, A. (NDI). The average cost for medical malpractice insurance. eHow.com.… READ MORE

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