Document Detail


Solving the medical malpractice crisis: use a clear and convincing evidence standard.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  20231632     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
The medical malpractice crisis has smoldered for many years with few new ideas regarding how to improve matters. Physicians promote limits on plaintiff noneconomic damages, but this has been ferociously resisted by the legal community. They argue that limiting remuneration to patients harmed by negligent practices is fundamentally wrong. We hypothesize that malpractice litigation is out of control because of an excessively lax evidence standard. Raising the evidence standard from the current "more likely than not" to "clear and convincing" would sharply reduce medical malpractice judgments against physicians. Clear and convincing is an evidence standard currently in use by courts for certain cases, and its adoption for malpractice litigation would not limit compensation for injuries resulting from negligent practices and should be well received by the legal community.
Authors:
Eli Engel; Edward H Livingston
Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article    
Journal Detail:
Title:  Archives of surgery (Chicago, Ill. : 1960)     Volume:  145     ISSN:  1538-3644     ISO Abbreviation:  Arch Surg     Publication Date:  2010 Mar 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2010-03-16     Completed Date:  2010-04-22     Revised Date:  -    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  9716528     Medline TA:  Arch Surg     Country:  United States    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  296-300     Citation Subset:  AIM; IM    
Affiliation:
Division of Gastrointestinal and Endocrine Surgery, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas, TX 75390-9156, USA.
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Malpractice* / legislation & jurisprudence,  statistics & numerical data
United States
Comments/Corrections
Comment In:
Arch Surg. 2010 Mar;145(3):300-1   [PMID:  20329353 ]

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