OBJECTIVES Following earlier research which showed that certain types of physicians are more likely to be sued for malpractice, this study explored (1). whether graduates of certain medical schools have consistently higher rates of lawsuits against them, (2). if the rates of lawsuits against physicians are associated with their school of graduation, and (3). whether the characteristics of the m...

In this paper, we examine the influence of medical malpractice tort reform on the level of private health insurance company losses incurred. We employ a natural experiment framework centered on a series of tort reform measures enacted in Texas in 2003 that drastically altered the medical malpractice environment in the state. The results of a difference-in-differences analysis using a variety of...

Scholars have argued that the malpractice system would be better off if patients had the option of waiving the right to sue for malpractice in exchange for a lower fee. Some doctors have tried to follow this advice by having their patients sign medical malpractice exculpatory agreements, but courts usually have refused to enforce these agreements, invoking a void-for-public-policy rationale. Th...

Malpractice insurance premiums for physicians have increased at an average rate of over 30 percent per year. This rate is significantly higher than health care cost inflation and the increase in physician costs. Trends indicate that malpractice related costs, both liability insurance and defensive medicine costs, will continue to increase for the near future. Pressures to limit physician costs ...

In 1975, and now again in 1985, there has arisen a public perception of a "malpractice crisis." ' The crisis, then and now, principally troubles physicians, who believe that liability insurance premiums are too high. A crisis seen through the eyes of doctors and measured in premium dollars naturally generates responses evaluated in terms of effect on premiums. The needs of patients and consumer...

According to the prevailing discourse in health policy circles, America's medical system is in the grips of two "crises": one of health care spending and one of medical malpractice liability. Although this crisis mentality may result in part from uncritical acceptance of interest group dogma, to the extent that a crisis is in fact widely perceived, it has the quality of a selffulfilling prophes...