LAW AND MEDICINE – MALPRACTICE SUITS AGAINST DOCTORS
This would appear not to be so in the U.S., where malpractice suits against doctors have reached epidemic proportions, and where judgments of more than $1 million are given against doctors quite frequently.
To protect himself under these circumstances, the doctor has to take out adequate insurance, and in many states in the U.S. the cost of such insurance has become prohibitive, amounting in some instances to a third of the doctor’s income.
Some lawyers specialise in malpractice suits, agreeing to take a specified percentage of any amount awarded.
In losing cases the fee is either very small or non-existent.
It is now reported that many doctors have decided to cope with this problem by not insuring at all and prominently advertising that fact.
Should a patient wish to sue, he has to obtain his judgement from the personal assets of the doctor, which may not be great and not worth the effort of a civil action.
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