title: Medical malpractice: the good, the bad, and the ugly.
abstract: The underpinning of medical practice has always been patient care and patient safety. The past several decades, however, have seen an erosion of the patient-doctor relationship. A number of factors have contributed to the ongoing medical malpractice crisis that continues in the United States. There are three social goals of malpractice litigation: to deter unsafe practices, to compensate persons injured through negligence, and to exact corrective justice. This article examines how well the current system achieves these goals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA. kloughlin@partners.org
authors.forename: Kevin R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Loughlin
mesh_terms: D003675:Defensive Medicine; D005104:Expert Testimony; D008318:Malpractice / Q000191:economics; D012449:Safety; D014481:United States