Medscape recently published an article on the state of Medical Malpractice in America.

You can find the full, five-part article here:

[Malpractice in America: Is Anything Getting Better?][1]

Certainly, the tone of the article is meant to sympathize with its expected readers: doctors and other healthcare providers. But if you sift through the rhetoric and focus on the data, you see the future of litigation looks increasingly better for health care providers.

The article certainly contains a lot of rhetoric. It cites the “problem of lawsuits,” the continued “tremendous uncertainty” of the future of litigation in medical care, the “unconscionably high number of claims,” and the “plaintiff bar’s parasitic form of venture capitalism.” That last one in particular hurts.

But when the article focuses on the data and facts, the report reads downright rosy for health care providers. Recoveries for injured patients continue to decline, and liability insurance costs remain flat. Defendant doctors win nearly 90% of the cases that result in a verdict, and 82% of the cases overall.

Tort reform efforts continue to show success on the state level, limiting and sometimes barring an injured patient’s right to recover through caps on damages, certificate of merit requirements, 90 day notice requirements, and other laws.

It is unfortunate that the discussion of medical malpractice is at times so polarizing. There may be attorneys in the United States who bring frivolous medical malpractice lawsuits. I don’t see them filed, and I don’t file them myself, because I’d prefer to stay in business. In fact, the opposite is likely true: given the climate of tort reform and our predisposition to like and trust our doctors and nurses, it’s likely that many meritorious claims are not brought.

[1]: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/818383 “Malpractice in America: Is Anything Getting Better?”