Medical Malpractice, Imperfect Information, and the Contractual Foundation for Medical Services

Contractual revisions to medical malpractice liability.

In the past, courts have struck down or severely limited attempts by health care providers to use written contracts to reduce their liability for negligence, deeming such agreements to be contrary to public policy.' The basic reason is that courts have not traditionally viewed the relationship of patient and health care provider as a contractual one, freely entered by both parties. Rather, phys...

Medical Malpractice Crisis Medical Malpractice Crisis

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...

Medical malpractice.

Few issues in health care spark as much ire and angst as medical-malpractice litigation. Physicians revile malpractice claims as random events that visit unwarranted expense and emotional pain on competent, hardworking practitioners. Commentators lament the “lawsuit lottery,” which provides windfalls for some patients, but no compensation for the vast majority of patients injured by medical car...

Iatrogenesis and Medical Error: The Case for Medical Malpractice Litigation

D iscussions of medical malpractice seem to end up at either of two extremes: the trial lawyer’s view that injured patients deserve compensation, with the treating physician the best source; and the doctor’s view that such suits unfairly penalize judgmental errors while raising the costs of practicing medicine. The parties to this debate make different assumptions about the nature, purpose, and...