Health Care Lawsuit Abuse

In recent years, much has been made over the number of malpractice suits filed in American courts that have contributed to a growing fear of health care lawsuit abuse.  The mandatory use of a cooling off period in some jurisdictions, a set amount of time that allows for potential plaintiffs and defendants to look at their cases, explore other complaints and establish communication between the parties, many malpractice cases still proceed to trial. Many health care professional, hospitals, and insurance companies are calling the surge of malpractice suits an epidemic, shouting health care lawsuit abuse. Impartial observers say otherwise.

Those shouting health care lawsuit abuse cite cost, nature, inefficaciousness, lack of solid precedence, and a steady, dramatic increase of suits filed as the primary concerns of industry watchdog groups. Much like Big Tobacco, the health care industry has lead a similar campaign to stem the tide of malpractice suits deemed frivolous enough to be considered health care lawsuit abuse. Instead of challenging those filing the suits directly, the health care industry has sought to overhaul the entire infrastructure that allows for such suits seen as health care lawsuit abuse. By calling for tort reform, advocates for the health care industry seek to restrict damages and punitive damages (including pain and suffering) by establishing duty-specific medical courts and suspending trial-by-jury in malpractice suits. The health care industry has invested heavily in Congressional lobbying to put an end to health care lawsuit abuse. Much of the leg work for campaigns aimed at tort reform and an end to health care lawsuit abuse have drawn the national spotlight because of the grassroots support of the American public.

Like tort reform advocacy groups in other industries and arenas, the motives of such groups comes into question. Why would the average person surrender their rights in cases of malpractice and level accusations of health care lawsuit abuse? Although those claiming a rise in health care lawsuit abuse are portrayed as members of the general public, many of the Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse groups that have taken up ranks in the tort reform fight are in fact health care professionals, hospitals, and insurance companies.

There is no easy answer when it comes to addressing alleged incidents of health care lawsuit abuse. Critics of tort reform, as it pertains to health care lawsuit abuse, stand decisively against the frivolous stereotype of some malpractice suits. Impartial observers such as the National Law Journal and the Harvard School of Public Health maintain that the vast majority of [malpractice] cases are valid, and the claimants are rightfully entitled to compensation . That in fact “the malpractice system performs reasonably well in its function of separating claims without merit from those with merit and compensating the latter” and the prevalence health care lawsuit abuse is no more than smoke, mirrors and scare tactics.


Sources:
Disproving Frivolous Myth . 2006. The National Law Journal. 26 Jan 2007 <http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?i d=1151658318847>.
The U-M Health System Approach to Malpractice Claims . 2006. University of Michigan Health. System. 26 Jan 2007 <http://www.med.umich.edu/news/umhsm.htm>.Health Care . 2007. Center for Media and Democracy. 26 Jan 2007 <http://sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Health_ Care>.
Medical Malpractice . 2007. Wikipedia. 26 Jan 2007 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_malpracti ce>.
Claims, Errors, and Compensation Payments in MedicalMalpractice Litigation . 2006. The New England Journal of Medicine. 26 Jan 2007. <http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/abstract/3 54/19/2024?andorexacttitleabs=and&search_tab=a