American health care is in crisis because of exploding medical
malpractice litigation. Insurance premiums for doctors and malpractice
lawsuits are skyrocketing, rendering doctors both afraid and unable to
afford to practice medicine. Undeserving victims sue at the drop of a
hat, egged on by greedy lawyers, and receive eye-popping awards that
insurance companies, hospitals, and doctors themselves struggle to pay.
The plaintiffs and lawyers always win; doctors, and the nonlitigious,
always lose; and affordable health care is the real victim.
This, according to Tom Baker, is the myth of medical malpractice, and as
a reality check he offers The Medical Malpractice Myth, a stunning
dismantling of this familiar, but inaccurate, picture of the health care
industry. Are there too many medical malpractice suits? No, according to
Baker; there is actually too much medical malpractice, with only a
fraction of the cases ever seeing the inside of a courtroom. Is too much
litigation to blame for the malpractice insurance crisis? No, for that
we can look to financial trends and competitive behavior in the
insurance industry. Point by point, Baker--a leading authority on
insurance and law--pulls together the research that demolishes the myths
that have taken hold and suggests a series of legal reforms that would
help doctors manage malpractice insurance while also improving patient
safety and medical accountability.
The Medical Malpractice Myth is a book aimed squarely at general
readers but with radical conclusions that speak to the highest level of
domestic policymaking.
