The fear of lawsuits among doctors does seem to lead to a noticeable amount of wasteful treatment. Amitabh Chandra -- a Harvard economist whose research is cited by both the American Medical Association and the trial lawyers' association -- says $60 billion a year, or about 3 percent of overall medical spending, is a reasonable upper-end estimate.
All told, jury awards, settlements and administrative costs -- which, by definition, are similar to the combined cost of insurance -- add up to less than $10 billion a year. This equals less than one-half of a percentage point of medical spending.
If you talk to doctors about malpractice, you come to realize that the root of their objections isn't financial. ... the malpractice system does affect the morale of doctors. It leaves them wondering when they will be publicly accused of doing the very thing they've sworn not to do: harm patients.
See Medical Malpractice System Breeds More Waste by David LeonhardT, September 22, 2009.
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