Medical Malpractice and the U.S. Health Care System

This book connects medical liability to broader trends and goals in American health policy.

William M. Sage (Edited by), Rogan Kersh (Edited by)

9780521614115, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 12 June 2006

406 pages, 12 tables
22.8 x 15.2 x 2.8 cm, 0.557 kg

"The book is an excellent resource for anyone interested i what we know, don't know, and know that [it] isn't so much about medical malpractice and its reform. By reframing medical malpractice as a health policy isue, the book has the potential to move us beyond the current debate..."
David A. Hyman, Health Affairs

Medical malpractice lawsuits are common and controversial in the United States. Since early 2002, doctors' insurance premiums for malpractice coverage have soared. As Congress and state governments debate laws intended to stabilize the cost of insurance, doctors continue to blame lawyers and lawyers continue to blame doctors and insurance companies. This book, which is the capstone of three years' comprehensive research funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts, goes well beyond the conventional debate over tort reform and connects medical liability to broader trends and goals in American health policy. Contributions from leading figures in health law and policy marshal the best available information, present new empirical evidence, and offer cutting-edge analysis of potential reforms involving patient safety, liability insurance and tort litigation.

Part I. Framing Medical Malpractice as a Health Policy Issue: 1. The medical malpractice system: structure and performance Michelle M. Mello and David M. Studdert
2. Malpractice reform as a health policy problem William M. Sage
3. Medical malpractice and the new politics of health care Rogan Kersh
Part II. The Health Policy Impact of Medical Malpractice: 4. Who pays when malpractice premiums rise? Mark V. Pauly
5. The effects of the US malpractice system on the cost and quality of care David J. Becker and Daniel P. Kessler
6. Liability, patient safety, and defensive medicine: what does the future hold? Troyen A. Brennan, Michelle M. Mello and David M. Studdert
7. Medical liability and the culture of technology Peter D. Jacobson
Part III. Malpractice Reforms that Solve the Right Problems: 8. Promoting fairness in the medical malpractice system Maxwell J. Mehlman
9. Caps and the construction of damages in medical malpractice cases Catherine M. Sharkey
10. Expertise and the legal process Catherine T. Struve
11. Disclosure and fair resolution of adverse events Carol B. Liebman and Chris Stern Hyman
Part IV. In Search of a 'New Paradigm': 12. Enterprise liability in the 21st century Randall R. Bovbjerg and Robert Berenson
13. Private contractual alternatives to malpractice liability Jennifer Arlen
14. Medical malpractice insurance reform: 'enterprise insurance' and some alternatives Tom Baker
15. Governments as insurers in professional and hospital liability insurance markets Frank A. Sloan and Charles E. Eesley
16. Medicare-led malpractice reform Eleanor Kinney and William Sage.

Subject Areas: Medical ethics & professional conduct [MBDC], Medical & healthcare law [LNTM]