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Medical malpractice litigation blamed for rising health care costs
Legal Newsline ^ | 10-13-09 | Chris Rizo

Posted on 10/13/2009 11:49:56 AM PDT by Ja7430

NEW YORK (Legal Newsline)-Medical malpractice litigation has driven up U.S. health care costs dramatically, translating into higher costs for consumers, a study said Tuesday.

The report by the Manhattan Institute's Center for Legal Policy said the direct cost of medical malpractice litigation is roughly $30.4 billion annually.

(Excerpt) Read more at legalnewsline.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Government; Health/Medicine
KEYWORDS: malpractice; tortreform

1 posted on 10/13/2009 11:49:57 AM PDT by Ja7430
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To: Ja7430
Trial lawyers are the #1 money contributors to the democrat party
2 posted on 10/13/2009 11:50:44 AM PDT by 2banana (My common ground with terrorists - they want to die for islam and we want to kill them)
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To: Ja7430

$30.4B..... is this the cost of the litigation, or the cost of litigation including damage awards?....could not tell in the article - there is a huge difference.


3 posted on 10/13/2009 11:52:58 AM PDT by SERKIT ("Blazing Saddles" explains it all.....)
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To: Ja7430

There are 3 components contributing here:
1 - Malpractice Insurance Premiums
2 - The actual claims fought in court
3 - The defensive medicine practiced simply to protect against a claim. That is tests and such, which are administerd, but not medically necessary.

# 3 is by far the largest impact to rizing healthcare costs.


4 posted on 10/13/2009 12:00:40 PM PDT by G Larry ( Obamacare=Dying in Line!)
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To: G Larry

rizing - rising.....sheesh....


5 posted on 10/13/2009 12:01:14 PM PDT by G Larry ( Obamacare=Dying in Line!)
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To: Ja7430

LIKE DUH!


6 posted on 10/13/2009 12:09:46 PM PDT by noname07718 (Freedom is never more than one generation from extinction-Ronald Reagan 1993)
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To: Ja7430
These types of articles, while they may be on the right track, make me laugh. The cost of defensive medicine is positively exorbitant. 0.5% my butt. At least half of all medical imaging is defensive. In an ER its probably 2/3rds. Lab testing is also ridiculously out of control. And it goes on. There are the enormous sums of money that equipment manufacturers pay for product liability insurance trying to avoid catastrophic lawsuits. Not just on obvious stuff like medications and catheters, but everything: beds, chairs, hospital gowns, software etc, etc, etc. All brought to you in a system of the lawyers, by the lawyers and for the lawyers.
7 posted on 10/13/2009 12:20:48 PM PDT by The Good Doctor (Democracy is the only system where you can vote for a tax that you can avoid the obligation to pay.)
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