The welfare effects of medical malpractice liability

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...

Nber Working Paper Series the Welfare Effects of Medical Malpractice Liability

Policymakers and the public are concerned about the role of medical malpractice liability in the rising cost of medical care. We use variation in the generosity of local juries to identify the causal impact of malpractice liability on medical costs, mortality, and social welfare. The effect of malpractice on medical costs is large relative to its share of medical expenditures, but relatively mo...

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...

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...

Debate Over Medical Malpractice Liability Heats Up