A recent article on Factcheck.org summarizes the research on how medical negligence cases impact health care costs.

You can read the article here: [Malpractice: Savings Reconsidered][1]

The conclusion: medical malpractice cases make up 0.5% of health care costs in the U.S. So even eliminating all malpractice cases would only shave that small percentage from the total costs of medical care. Republicans in Congress who support medical malpractice “reform” often make wild claims about the huge amount of money that would be saved if only there were more restrictions on the ability of injured patients to bring lawsuits.

They never talk about the benefits of allowing people to enforce their rights through the civil justice system. It benefits us all when the standards of medical care are susceptible to scrutiny through the legal system. Without that invaluable check, there would be very little in the way of consequences if doctors and hospitals provided negligent care to their patients.

[1]: http://www.factcheck.org/2009/10/malpractice-savings-reconsidered/ “Malpractice: Savings Reconsidered”