Point of Law points to the latest Congressional Budget Office report on tort reform, which concludes that non-economic damage caps do result in lower malpractice insurance premiums. They also decreased the practice of defensive medicine, at least when it comes to treating heart disease, without increasing mortality:
The authors found that the adoption of direct reforms led to a 6 percent drop in hospital expenditures for heart attack patients and a 9 percent decline for heart disease patients, with no significant change in mortality rates or cardiac complications.
They defined direct reforms as such measures as caps on punitive damages. Although it did take a few years to see the change in behavior and the reduction of malpractice insurance premiums, it appears from the report of this nonpartisan arm of the government, that tort reform works. Now can we give it a chance?
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MedPundit on medical malpractice at overlawyered
At our editor’s “other” website, guest blogger MedPundit — a practicing physician who usually blogs here — has several interesting posts on medical malpractice. One post describes a lawsuit in which a plaintiff alleged that her deceased husband had b…
MedPundit on medical malpractice at overlawyered
At our editor’s “other” website, guest blogger MedPundit — a practicing physician who usually blogs here — has several interesting posts on medical malpractice. One post describes a lawsuit in which a plaintiff alleged that her deceased husband had b…
Medical malpractice: costly problems, real solutions
At our editor’s “other” website, guest blogger MedPundit — a practicing physician who usually blogs here — has several interesting posts on medical malpractice. One post describes a lawsuit in which a plaintiff alleged that her deceased husband had b…
Medical malpractice: costly problems, real solutions
At our editor’s “other” website, guest blogger MedPundit — a practicing physician who usually blogs here — has several interesting posts on medical malpractice. One post describes a lawsuit in which a plaintiff alleged that her deceased husband had b…