Proponents of tort reform in medical negligence cases – legislative changes that make it harder to injured victims to get justice in the court system – sometimes argue that one big problem that is caused by the threat to doctors of a lawsuit is defensive medicine.

“Defensive medicine” is a term used to describe tests done by doctors, not for the purpose of treating the patient, but to protect them from a lawsuit. It is often used by lobby groups in support of tort reform efforts. The thinking is that doctors are so scared of being sued, they will order unnecessary tests, tests that carry risks to the patients who undergo them, because they are worried that if they don’t, and something bad happens, they’ll be sued because they didn’t do the test.

There are no peer-reviewed studies I have seen that show that doctors actually do this. Instead, there are peer-reviewed studies that show that doctors actually don’t do this.

One big reason doctors don’t do this, aside from the fact that the vast majority of doctors are good people who care about their patients and don’t want to subject them to unnecessary harm, is that it’s Medicare fraud.

A doctor who bills Medicare for tests done for a personal purpose – like possible lawsuit protection – as opposed to what is medically necessary for the patient, is committing fraud. The doctors who do this can be fined, can be excluded from the Medicare program, and can even go to jail.

The medical negligence tort system keeps everyone safer, and doesn’t result in unnecessary testing from doctors worried about lawsuits. That’s because doctors are typically nice, caring individuals, and are almost certainly not stupid.