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Malpractice Lawsuit Fear Provokes Defensive Medicine Response

Simon M. Helfgott, MD  |  Issue: July 2014  |  July 1, 2014

Isn’t it time to untie the Gordian knot?


Simon M. Helfgott, MD, is associate professor of medicine in the division of rheumatology, immunology and allergy at Harvard Medical School in Boston.

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References

  1. Nash L, Daly M, Johnson M, et al. Psychological morbidity in Australian doctors who have and have not experienced a medico-legal matter: Cross-sectional survey. Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2007 Nov;41(11):917–925.
  2. Burns CR. Malpractice suits in American medicine before the Civil War. In Burns CR, ed. Legacies in Ethics and Medicine. New York: Science History Publications, 1977:107–122.
  3. Mohr JC. American medical malpractice litigation in historical perspective. JAMA. 2000 Apr 5;283(13):1731–1737.
  4. Annas GJ. Doctors, patients, and lawyers—two centuries of health law. N Engl J Med. 2012 Aug 2;367(5):445–450.
  5. Seabury SA, Chandra A, Lakdawalla DN, et al. On average, physicians spend nearly 11 percent of their 40-year careers with an open, unresolved malpractice claim. Health Affairs. 2012;32(1):111–119.

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Filed under:Legal UpdatesOpinionPractice SupportProfessional TopicsQuality Assurance/ImprovementRheuminationsSpeak Out Rheum Tagged with:ACAAffordable Care Act (ACA)defensive medicinedrugHelfgottLegalmalpracticeOsteoarthritisPainpatient carePractice Managementrheumatologist

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