Rising health care costs aren't because of medical malpractice claims
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Fewer medical malpractice payments were made on behalf of doctors in 2009 than any year on record, according to an update of the National Practitioner Data Bank that was released this week.
The data contradict claims by some that medical malpractice litigation is to blame for rising health care costs. Changing the liability system to the detriment of patients will not curb health care costs. The value of malpractice payments in actual (unadjusted) dollars was the lowest since 1999. Adjusted for inflation, payments were at their lowest since 1992, a Public Citizen analysis shows. Last year was the fifth consecutive year the number of payments has fallen and the sixth straight year in which the value of payments has fallen. In contrast, U.S. health care costs have increased every year since 1965, the earliest year for which such data exist. Between 2000 and 2009, health care spending rose 83 percent while medical malpractice payments fell 8 percent. (Both figures are in unadjusted dollars.) Click here to read the full study.  Robert Painter is an attorney with the Painter Law Firm. Opinions expressed on Painter Law Firm are those of the author only and do not necessarily reflect those of Painter Law Firm. Opinions and comments do not establish an attorney-client relationship.
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