The rapid increase in medical malpractice insurance claims and concomitant increases in premiums in the early 1970's concerned the medical and government communities. In 1974 alone, there was a 195 percent increase in malpractice suits filed in State courts (Federal Medical Malpractice Insurance Act, 1975). Major efforts to understand the nature of the "crisis" and its potential solutions inclu...

BACKGROUND Surgical never events are being used increasingly as quality metrics in health care in the United States. However, little is known about their costs to the health care system, the outcomes of patients, or the characteristics of the providers involved. We designed a study to describe the number and magnitude of paid malpractice claims for surgical never events, as well as associated p...

According to the prevailing discourse in health policy circles, America's medical system is in the grips of two "crises": one of health care spending and one of medical malpractice liability. Although this crisis mentality may result in part from uncritical acceptance of interest group dogma, to the extent that a crisis is in fact widely perceived, it has the quality of a selffulfilling prophes...

BACKGROUND Few investigations have addressed malpractice litigation after thyroid surgery. The purpose of this medico-legal review was to provide a more comprehensive picture of medico-legal trends in thyroid surgery. METHODS Reviewed were all expert opinions on claims of malpractice after thyroid surgery, commissioned between 1995 and 2010 at 1 tertiary center, and their corresponding verdic...

As a result of rapidly rising medical malpractice insurance premiums, reduced availability of coverage, and financially distressed liability insurers, many states have passed tort reforms. This synthesis examines the medical malpractice ""crisis"" and the effect of state tort reforms. Evidence shows that caps on non-economic damages reduce the average size of malpractice awards by 20 to 30 perc...

Recent malpractice premium hikes and President Bush’s federal tort reform proposal have focused attention on medical liability costs. One frequent justification for tort reform proposals is the potential impact of liability on defensive medicine. There is however, scant and conflicting evidence on whether malpractice risk alters physician practices. In this paper, I examine whether malpractice ...

BACKGROUND The medical peer-review committees and arbitration boards of the Medical Associations of the individual German federal states assess claims for damages arising from alleged medical malpractice. METHODS 189 panel proceedings concerning alleged malpractice in the treatment of fractures in children were evaluated on the basis of the available documentation and decisions. The proceedin...

BACKGROUND The loss of family physicians as obstetrics providers during the last decade has had a significant impact on access to obstetric services, especially for rural populations. The expense of malpractice premiums has been cited often as a reason for physicians' discontinuation of this service. METHODS Seventy-six family physicians in northern California who recently discontinued obstet...

Medical malpractice claims are increasing at a rate of about ten percent per year.' Seven chairmen of neurosurgery departments in leading New York hospitals have a combined total of twenty-five malpractice suits filed against them, seeking an aggregate total of $6.3 million. ' In 1960, total malpractice premiums in the United States were $60 million; by 1975, the total will be about $1 billion....