Common Medical Negligence Myths

When you have sought medical treatment for an injury or illness, your expectation is that, at a minimum, you won’t get worse because of medical carelessness or negligence. But it happens a lot, contrary to what insurance companies will try to tell you. In fact, many of the arguments that insurers make about medical malpractice or negligence suits are simply without merit. Here are some of the most frequent:

• Medical malpractice claims are causing doctors to stop practicing medicine—A recent study found that the number of doctors per capita is higher in states that don’t limit medical malpractice awards, and that the number of doctors per capita nationwide is actually increasing.
• There are too many medical negligence lawsuits—The American Association for Justice found that fewer medical malpractice suits have been filed over the past few years and that that trend has been consistent for some time.
• Medical malpractice lawsuits are making medical care more expensive for everyone—Earlier studies that asserted this have been consistently refuted. Current research says that medical malpractice lawsuits account for less than one third of one percent of all medical expenses.
• Medical malpractice claims have caused insurance premiums to skyrocket—A number of studies have shown no correlation between medical malpractice claims and medical malpractice premiums. Insurance companies typically raise medical malpractice premiums when their investment income is down.
• Tort reform (setting caps on damage awards, etc.) effectively lowers health insurance premiums—A recent study found virtually no difference in the premiums in states with a cap and states without a cap. Some states, such as Texas, which have a cap have healthcare costs that are far greater than the national average.

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