The State of Malpractice in America
Tyler Goldberg-Hoss
January 8, 2014
Malpractice in America: often an uphill battle for injured victims.
Malpractice in America: often an uphill battle for injured victims.
The economics of malpractice cases often means that victims with limited harms and losses have difficult times finding attorneys to take their cases
Contrary to popular belief, medical malpractice cases make up just 0.5% of health care costs in the U.S.
A recent blog by a noted nurse-educator about the agonizing death of her grandmother illustrates the opportunity for multiple medical errors in today’s complex medical care system.
All health care facilities are, or soon will be, required to maintain a patient’s medical records in electronic form. Almost all hospitals currently use EMR systems. Several U.S. companies are marketing and installing these systems. Using them has helped avoid some problems of hand-written charts, but also has created entirely new problems.
Sometimes resolving a medical malpractice or other claim for damages arising from personal injuries is only half the battle. Often the injured person has significant medical expenses due to the negligence of the defendant, and usually the entity that paid for those medical bills wants to be repaid in whole or in part.
A recent article in a medical publication stated that malpractice insurance premiums for three representative specialties have gone down for the past two years, albeit by small amounts.
In the last several years, there has been a huge increase in the number of surgeries performed with robotic devices, usually manufactured by one company that has aggressively marketed them to doctors and hospitals.