You may have missed this when it first appeared.
Experts from Harvard and the University of Southern California
say assumptions made by some analysts that defensive medicine is not an
important facet of the high cost of healthcare may be wrong.
Those assumptions were based on
data showing that malpractice reforms instituted in some states did little to
reduce healthcare spending.
According to the report from
the National Center for Policy Analysis about an article in the wall Street Journal,
defensive medicine ("ordering
some tests or consultations simply to avoid the appearance of
malpractice") is just as common in states with low as it is in
those with high malpractice risk. In fact, about 2/3 of doctors in both the low
and high risk states admitted to practicing defensive medicine.
My experience is that the 2/3
figure is probably a very low estimate. Just about every physician I know has ordered a test or consult strictly to
"cover his/her ass" if something were to go wrong. I am
certain it happens tens of thousands of times per day in the US.
