True Cost of Medical Malpractice Lawsuits – It May Surprise You

A new study reveals that the cost of medical malpractice lawsuits in the US is running at about $55.6 billion a year. The $45.6 billion of which is spent on defensive medicine practiced by physicians seeking to stay clear of lawsuits. The amount comprises 2.4% of the nation’s total health care expenditure.

The numbers are the result of a Harvard School of Public Health study published in the September edition of Health Affairs, purporting to be the most reliable estimate of malpractice costs to date. Some of the more vocal opponents to health care reform have long argued that doing away with medical malpractice lawsuits would go a long way towards solving a major cost problem in the system. Given the small percentage of the health care dollar spent on medical malpractice issues that would hardly appear to be the case.

Need to File a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit?

The Doctors are among the hardest professionals in the world to question. When it comes down to it, most people simply do not have enough knowledge to determine whether a doctor is doing their job well or not. Unfortunately, this sometimes leads to situations where someone who is the victim of medical negligence ends up not filing a lawsuit and facing all of the costs that negligence brought on without any help at all.