Medical Profession at Fault For Medical Malpractice

It seems easy to blame patients or attorneys of the so-called medical malpractice crisis. The truth is the cause of the medical malpractice crisis is medical malpractice.

The results of the Harvard Medical Practice Study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1998 estimated that 98,000 die each year as a result of malpractice committed in hospitals.

The prestigious Institute of Medicine published its findings in 2000 in which it estimated that in any given year more people die as a result of medical malpractice than motor vehicle accidents, breast cancer, or AIDS.

The Congressional Budget Office in 2003 reported 180,000 severe injuries attributable to medical malpractice.

The nation's leading healthcare rating organization, Health Grades, in 2004 reported that more Americans die as a result of violation of patient safety rules every six months than died in the entire Vietnam War.

Sadly, there is a medical malpractice crisis in this country, its cause is not lawyers or lawsuits, but is in fact medical malpractice. The real question is how does limiting the rights of the victims of medical malpractice make medicine better? It does not.

Reducing the rights of patients and their families will not result result in less medical malpractice, only better medical practices will reduce the cost and incidence of medical malpractice.

If you have been affected by medical malpractice, contact a Los Angeles medical malpractice attorney today.