USA Today published an article on August 20, 2013, that described the failure of the nation’s state medical disciplinary systems to police doctors who repeatedly cause patient harm through negligence and error.

The article focuses on a particular doctor who repeatedly made errors in drug prescriptions, causing the deaths of several patients, but it also chronicles the pervasive problems across the country in sanctioning doctors who harm patients.

Medical associations often criticize patients, and their attorneys, who file malpractice lawsuits. The stated purpose of such a lawsuit is to obtain compensation for the harms and losses caused by medical malpractice. But another purpose, and one that is often stated by injured patients as a reason to bring a lawsuit, is to achieve accountability and try to ensure that other patients won’t go through the same problems.

Many lawsuits we have brought changed medical practices that jeopardized patient safety. And, when you think about it, if the state agencies won’t discipline negligent doctors, it’s the patients who have to take action to prevent further harm.

Medical malpractice lawsuits provide a needed focus on bad care and poor medical practice. if the accepted “standard of care” is not enforced by the state agencies, then the courtroom is the last opportunity to protect patients’ safety by bringing to light the negligent care that injures patients and their families.

Here is a link to the article: