How Medical Malpractice Affects Healthcare Costs
Medical malpractice has been making national headlines recently after President Barack Obama’s speech on June 15 to the American Medical Association. Much confusion exists as to just how medical malpractice affects health care costs. Interestingly, a 2003 study by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimated the direct cost of medical malpractice was only 2 percent of the nation’s healthcare spending.
Medical malpractice law is an important venue of accountability for doctors and other health-care providers. While the vast majority of doctors take the Hippocratic Oath seriously and work with diligence and care, the few that do not can bring substantial damage to a staggering number of patients.
A recent article by Bloomberg shares a frightening fact: many hospitals keep hiring doctors who have been found guilty of malpractice. In fact, the National Practitioner Data Bank, which is meant to keep track of bad doctors, only receives reports from half of the nation’s hospitals. Hospitals are often reticent to report their doctors’ poor practices, as it could reflect badly on their own standard of care.
If hospitals and medical practitioners are not policing themselves, it is up to the legal profession to help bring in some of this missing accountability. Every day, the news is filled with stories of patients who were hurt by procedures and negligence that could have been avoided. In February, for example, the Veterans’ Affairs learned that more than 10,000 patients at three agency hospitals may have been exposed to HIV through the use of non-sterile equipment. And who can forget the incident with Dennis Quaid’s twin babies? In November 2007, the twins almost died after being given an overdose of Heparin due to a mix-up between the children’s and adult’s dosages. It was discovered that the labeling of the two products was similar and easily confused. Prior to this, six babies in Indiana died from a similar overdose.
Medical malpractice law is not only designed to compensate and help the victim who suffered, but also to prevent others from suffering similar fates in the future. Access to quality health care is a need that all of us have, no matter what our age or economic status might be. Trolman, Glaser & Lichtman seeks to provide just such legal help to people in the New York metropolitan area, regardless of background or documentation. It is for this very reason that the firm never charges a fee unless winning a settlement or jury verdict. Access to justice and quality health care are vital rights that should be available to everyone.
