Posted on 06/11/2005 3:42:05 PM PDT by paudio
More than 9 out of 10 doctors surveyed admit that they practice some form of "defensive medicine” – ordering unnecessary tests or jettisoning potentially troublesome patients to head off malpractice lawsuits.
The survey of 824 Pennsylvania physicians in six high-risk specialty practices, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), found:
Almost 60 percent said they often ordered more diagnostic tests than necessary.
52 percent referred patients to other specialists even when the referral was unnecessary.
About 42 percent said concerns about malpractice lawsuits had forced them to restrict some practices – eliminating procedures prone to complications, such as trauma surgery, or avoiding patients with complex medical problems or those who appeared litigious.
When asked to cite their most recent defensive act, more than half of emergency physicians, orthopedic surgeons and neurosurgeons mentioned ordering an unnecessary imaging procedure – a CT, MRI or X-ray they didn’t believe was necessary.
Women may suffer more than men from the effects of defensive medicine, because doctors specializing in obstetrics and gynecology said they sometimes limited obstetric care and some radiologists reported that they had stopped reading mammograms.
Overall, 93 percent of doctors surveyed said they practiced defensive medicine. "Defensive medicine is part of the social cost of a medical malpractice crisis," according to the researchers who conducted the survey.
"Ordering costly imaging studies seems merely wasteful, but other defensive behaviors may reduce access to care and even pose risks of physical harm to patients."
A second study published in JAMA found that states enacting malpractice reforms, particularly caps on damages in lawsuits, showed a larger increase in the number of physicians than those states not enacting reforms.
"It is clear that both physicians and patients are victims of a seriously flawed malpractice system," Dr. William M. Sage, a law professor at Columbia University and director of the Pew Charitable Trusts' Project on Medical Liability in Pennsylvania, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
"In particular, the process of airing and resolving claims through litigation is destructive for all concerned, while the market and regulatory dynamics of malpractice insurance drive premiums into crisis cycles with pernicious consequences."
According to JAMA, efforts to reduce defensive medicine should include educating patients and doctors regarding appropriate care in situations that often prompt defensive medicine, developing guidelines that target common defensive practices, and reducing the financial vulnerability of doctors in high-risk specialties.
If society wants the right to sue for bad consequences, then it should expect to suffer adverse effects such as defensive medicine.
Penn is one of the worst states in the country for doctors. It's even a recruitment target of choice because recruiters of medical personnel know that docs in Penn want out.
Thank you, John Edwards, and associated ne'er do wells.
I recall in a past post that Penn limits attorneys' liability to something like $75K max.
It seems it would be necessary if it would keep you from getting sued.
"JAMA: Doctors Order Unnecessary Tests"
In other news, water wet, sky blue.
Baloney!
Duh... file under the category of completely unexpected...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.