In its updated 2014 tort reform position paper, the American College of Physicians continues to endorse caps on noneconomic and punitive damages, as well as other tort reform measures.
However, it now acknowledges that “improving patient safety and preventing errors must be at the fore of the medical liability reform discussion.” The ACP correctly asserts that “emphasizing patient safety, promoting a culture of quality improvement and coordinated care, and training physicians in best practices to avoid errors and reduce risk will prevent harm and reduce the waste associated with defensive medicine.”
This hybrid approach combining traditional tort reforms with a renewed attention to patient safety through medical error reduction may yet yield additional practical benefits.
Here, the experience in anesthesiology bears recounting: Its dramatic progress in risk management has cut patient death rate from 1 in 5,000 to 1 in 200,000 to 300,000 in the space of 20 years, and this has been associated with a concurrent 37% fall in insurance premiums.
References
1. Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act of 1975, Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 3333.2 (West 1982).
2. O’Connell, J. No-Fault Insurance for Injuries Arising from Medical Treatment: A Proposal for Elective Coverage. Emory L. J. 1975;24:21.
Dr. Tan is professor emeritus of medicine and former adjunct professor of law at the University of Hawaii. Currently, he directs the St. Francis International Center for Healthcare Ethics in Honolulu. This article is meant to be educational and does not constitute medical, ethical, or legal advice. Some of the articles in this series are adapted from the author’s 2006 book, “Medical Malpractice: Understanding the Law, Managing the Risk,” and his 2012 Halsbury treatise, “Medical Negligence and Professional Misconduct.” For additional information, readers may contact the author at siang@hawaii.edu.