US medical malpractice tops $55 billion

US medical malpractice tops $55b

According to a new study published in the journal Health Affairs, the cost of medical malpractice in the United States is $55.6 billion a year, which is 2.4 percent of annual healthcare spendings.

A team of researchers, led by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) law and public health professor Michelle Mello, found that "overall medical liability system costs, including defensive medicine, are estimated to be $55.6 billion in 2008 dollars, or 2.4 percent of total health care spending."

According to information obtained from a 7 September article by Peggy Peck, Executive Editor of medical news website MedPage Today, a staggering $45.6 billion of the total cost accounts for defensive medical costs, which Business Week explains is "doctors prescribe[ing] unnecessary tests or treatments to avoid lawsuits".

Rounding off the remaining $10 million is indemnity payment made up $5.72 billion, £3.15 billion for economic damages, $2.4 billion for non-economic damages, and $0.17 billion for punitive damages.

"Physician and insurer groups like to collapse all conversations about cost growth in health care to malpractice reform, while their opponents trivialize the role of defensive medicine," Amitabh Chandra, a professor of public policy at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and a member of the research team, told Reuters on Tuesday.

"Our study demonstrates that both these simplifications are wrong--the amount of defensive medicine is not trivial, but it's unlikely to be a source of significant savings," Chandra added.

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