Medical Malpractice Lawsuits

According to the American Bar Association, the cost of malpractice litigation in America is miniscule, no more than a few million dollars a year. True, if we consider only awards to plaintiffs. But if we factor in the malpractice insurance premiums for doctors and hospitals, and the needless tests and procedures they are compelled to perform in order to protect themselves in case they are sued, defensive medicine, the actual cost is closer to a hefty $10 billion a year—a big-big win for insurance companies and lawyers, and a huge loss-loss for healthcare givers and patients. Small wonder that luminaries throughout history-Tacitus, Montaigne, Shakespeare, Swift, Burke, Thoreau, among many others—did not think much of lawyers. Jesus referred to the ones in his day as a “generation of vipers.”