Sep 28, 2011

76% of Docs Provide Unneeded Care For Fear of Lawsuits

A new study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine highlights one troubling cause of rising healthcare costs: doctors providing more medical care than is necessary because they fear malpractice lawsuits.

Doctors admit that they do this in the nationwide survey. 76% of doctors surveyed said fear of malpractice lawsuits prompted them to practice more aggressive medicine. 42% of doctors said their own patients were receiving too much medical care.

The study, conducted by the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice and the Veterans Administration Outcomes Group, can be found here. You can also read a summary in the Los Angeles Times here.