Physicians' fears of malpractice lawsuits are not assuaged by tort reforms

Health Affairs

Volumn 29, Issue 9, 2010, Pages 1585-1592

  Carrier, Emily R ^a   Reschovsky, James D ^a   Mello, Michelle M ^b   Mayrell, Ralph C ^a   Katz, David ^c  

^a CENTER FOR STUDYING HEALTH SYSTEM CHANGE   (United States)

^b HARVARD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH   (United States)

^c UNIVERSITY OF IOWA   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ARTICLE; CLINICAL PRACTICE; CRIMINAL LAW; GENERAL PRACTICE; GENERAL PRACTITIONER; HEALTH CARE COST; HEALTH CARE POLICY; HUMAN; LAW SUIT; MALPRACTICE; MEDICAL LIABILITY; MEDICAL SPECIALIST; PHYSICIAN ATTITUDE; RISK ASSESSMENT;

ADULT; CHRONIC DISEASE; CLINICAL COMPETENCE; COST CONTROL; FAMILY PRACTICE; FEAR; FEMALE; GROUP PRACTICE; HEALTH CARE REFORM; HUMANS; LIABILITY, LEGAL; MALE; MALPRACTICE; PHYSICIANS; STATE HEALTH PLANS;

EID: 78649587611     PISSN: 02782715     EISSN: 15445208     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1377/hlthaff.2010.0135     Document Type: Article

References (31)

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14. The Appendix is available by clicking on the Appendix link in the box to the right of the article online
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20. The rate of claims for which no payment is made is another component of malpractice risk. Unfortunately, there are no data available to assess this component, although it should be reflected in malpractice premiums.
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22. Where multiple defendants are found to share in the blame for a negligent episode, joint-and-several liability allows any defendant, even one who played only a minor role, to be held additionally liable for the amount owed by any other defendant who is unable to pay. Joint and several liability reform ends this practice, so that each defendant can be held liable only for his or her personal role in the negligence.
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24. Split recovery requires that some portion of punitive damages be deposited in a general fund established by the state. Patient compensation funds are state pools established with physician contributions or taxes that supplement or replace payments made by physicians or their malpractice insurers.
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