Juridical Analysis of Hospital Liability for Actions of Doctors Performing Medical Malpractice

Liability for Medical Malpractice

P_ hysicians and other medical providers are subject to a negligence rule of liability. To prevail, a plaintiff must show that he or she sustained damages that were caused by the failure of the physician to take due care, defined as customary practice of physicians in good standing with the profession, or a significant minority of such physicians. In a simple model, with perfect information and...

Liability and liability insurance for medical malpractice.

Physicians typically carry virtually complete malpractice insurance coverage. This contradicts standard theoretical predictions that under a negligence rule of liability there should be no demand for insurance, and insurance policies under moral hazard will contain co-payment provisions. It is argued that judicial 'errors' in defining negligence generate a demand for liability and legal defense...

Medical Malpractice in Perspective: Nebraska Hospital-Medical Liability Act

Limiting Tort Liability for Medical Malpractice

The past few years have seen a sharp increase in premiums for medical malpractice liability insurance, which health care professionals buy to protect themselves from the costs of being sued (see Figure 1 on page 2). On average, premiums for all physicians nationwide rose by 15 percent between 2000 and 2002—nearly twice as fast as total health care spending per person. The increases during that ...

The value of liability in medical malpractice.

In this paper I estimate the strength of medical providers' incentive to avoid negligent medical care, taking account of the facts that many victims of medical malpractice do not file claims, many nonvictims do file claims, legal costs are high, and the legal system makes errors. Despite these problems, the negligence system creates a strong financial incentive for medical providers to avoid su...