Defensive Medicine and Tort Reform: A Wide View

The Effects of Malpractice Tort Reform on Defensive Medicine

As the rising cost of malpractice threatens to reduce the number of hospitals and physicians in various states across the nation, policy-makers must examine the factors contributing to these crises. Beyond studying the symptoms of malpractice crises, such as increasing claims frequency and severity manifested through increasing malpractice premia, policy-makers must consider flaws within the ma...

The Culture of Defensive Medicine: Is Tort Reform Necessary?

This paper examines the culture of defensive medicine that has spread rapidly across the United States in response to an increase in malpractice lawsuits and staggering malpractice insurance premiums in certain high-risk medical and surgical specialties. Due to the presence of this culture, it is important to question whether tort reform (e.g. placing caps on jury awards) is necessary to curb r...

Tort Reforms and Defensive Practices in Obstetrics

Tort Reform and Accidental Deaths

Theory suggests that tort reform could have either of two impacts on accidents. First, reforms could increase accidents as tortfeasors internalize less of the costs of externalities, and thus, have less incentive to reduce the risk of accidents. Second, tort reforms could decrease accidents as lower expected liability costs result in lower prices, enabling consumers to buy more risk-reducing pr...

Tort Reform, Kiwi-Style