Reply #18: Most of those princely sums are reduced on appeal [View All]

[Warpy]

which is how the system is supposed to work. Suing generally doesn't net a real victim nearly enough to compensate for a lifetime of wildly inflating health care costs.

The payout on frivolous lawsuits is reduced drastically, if a frivolous lawsuit has even made it to a jury. That 16% figure applies mostly to "make it go away" settlements.

The main statistic to remember is that 5% of doctors are responsible for 50% of insurance payouts, and the same docs are often responsible for multiple payouts. That is what needs to be looked at. Some of them are in high risk specialties and are sued through no fault of their own; others may be seriously incompetent and need to be encouraged to find a workplace that doesn't involve patient contact.

Tort reform in medical malpractice suits is and always has been a red herring. The main people they want to protect are the multinational corporations that sell shoddy and/or dangerous goods.