Utah Med Law

The Associated Press has written an excellent article on medical malpractice reform that is sure to become a hot topic for the Obama administration if they are going to be successful in fixing what is wrong with health care in the United States.

There appears to be a disconnect between trial lawyers who represent persons who have been injured as a result of a doctor's negligence and doctors themselves.  As the system exists now the mechanism is straight forward.  A doctor practices negligently and the patient injured sues.  If negligence is found and the doctor held liable for the injury then the doctor's insurance company pays the injured party.  The amount paid is determined by a jury of peers.  So far so good.  The injured parson is compensated and the doctor, who had no intent to practice negligently, is protected by insurance.  The doctor learns from his mistake and life moves on.  The problem here is that because of teh veil of secrecy surrounding medical malpractice cases the healing professions rarely become aware of the negligence and the negligent act is perpetuated by other doctors across the nation yielding more and more medical malpractice cases. If the goal is to improve health care then the negligent acts of doctors (perhaps without naming hte doctors responsible) should be made available and not kept a secret.

When urologists were told by John McDonough, a top health adviser to Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., that doctors must improve their quality of care he was greeted with a chorus of "boos."  Sentiments run deep and the lines appear to be drawn between trial lawyers and doctors.

There are other issues surrounding medical malpractice reform like defensive medicine where "unnecessary" tests are ordered just to protect the doctor from later lawsuits that claim the omitted test should have been ordered.  This issue persists despite any research to show that such "defensive medicine" isreally practiced. 

Doctors also claim that their insurance premiums are always increasing because they blindly look at their bills and believe the propaganda of their insurance carriers that medical malpractice claims are rising.  Again, there is little research to prove that medical malpractice payouts are increasing to justify the increased premiums that doctors pay for thier insurance coverage.  What is not secret and easily available and clear for all to see is that medical malpractice insurance carriers continue to make large profits despite the "medical malpractice crisis" that appears to only exist in their collective minds.

One of the best options, at least in my opinion, may be the creation of "health courts" to help streamline litigation by quickly and expeditiously moving cases through a litigation process that is becoming more and more expensive and specialized.

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