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August 24, 2009
The Role of Medical Malpractice In Health Care Reform
July 31, 2008
Significant settlement recently reached with physicians group and hospital in birth trauma case
July 31, 2008
Significant recovery for brain injured 81 y.o. woman involved in auto accident
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Settlement for rider in CTA Blue Line derailment case
June 09, 2008
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The Role of Medical Malpractice In Health Care Reform
August 24, 2009
Topic: National Medical Malpractice News
Last week, we read this article out of the Journal Gazette (Fort Wayne, IN), and it prompted us to think about the role of medical malpractice in health care reform.
Each year, for decades, people speaking for the insurance and medical industry interests have sought to force changes to our civil justice system, blaming medical malpractice cases for the rising costs of health care. These changes are called tort "reforms", but the changes do nothing to reduce the incidence of poor medical care, and instead, punish those people who have been injured by medical negligence by making it more and more difficult for those victims who have meritorious cases to obtain fair compensation for their injuries.
The truth is that the costs associated with the defense, and even the payment of malpractice case settlements and verdicts has had almost no impact on the cost or availability of health care. Of even greater significance is the fact that the cases which are brought represent just the "tip of the iceberg" as far as the frequency and severity of the malpractice problem. In a very recent study, in fact, only a fraction of those people who are injured through avoidable medical errors have been able to obtain compensation for their injuries.
