Myths about Medical Malpractice Claims

Myths about Medical Malpractice Claims

Malpractice suits have been around since antiquity because it offers financial security in an unpredictable field like medicine where failure may happen more often than not by simply doing one's job properly. Malpractice suits can be a great way to make sure that patients are getting the best care possible, but there is always potential for abuse. Medical malpractice exists for reasons and one of them is to make sure doctors create additional preparation and bedside practice (to avoid future failures) or else suffer consequences such as monetary compensation pay-outs if they deliberately failed their patient; something which only adds insultt injury on top of what was already done wrong through malpractice. One some cases, doctors charge excessive fees just so they could protect themselves from lawsuits due to improper treatment and diagnosis. Sure, there are a lot of wrong beliefs pertaining how good malpractice lawsuits offers and thinking how they can abuse such law as a one-time big time way to be rich since it offers good amount of money. 

That above is an example of common medical malpractice lawsuits myths and wrong beliefs. Here are some more of them:

1. First myth is that doctors charge patients with a percentage of their payment and bills from their insurance's premiums along with their medical bills rendering total bills higher than usual or compared to other physicians or other doctors who pay less with their insurance.
   

   This is a common misconception among malpractice lawsuits that medical malpractice insurance rates rise after each claim. However, what actually happens it the cost of claims rises along with the economy. The more expensive surgeries are and therapies become, then so will these premiums climb as well, just like they do for any other type of health care provider. Unlike car and home insurance where it increases every claims that has been filed. The Fortune 500 company has annual average profits of $1 billion dollars while these 10 largest medical malpractice insurance providers have higher annual profits than 99%. In 2010 alone, for example, these top ten companies saw an increase in premiums by more than 120% but settlements and jury verdicts decreased by nearly 15%. 

2. In relation to the first common myth, people believes that it as well increases the cost of the general healthcare industry but it isn't. Many people are unaware of the dangers that come with going into a hospital. The $29 billion dollars spent on additional medical care is more than most realize, and many do not know about some common errors such as surgery accidents or misdiagnosis which can lead to serious injuries and another set of bills and expenditures for medical institutions. But, the US health care industry spends less than 0.3% of total costs on legal expenses, which is a mere $7 Billion annually. Lawyers are paid less that 1%, and the average settlement for each claim averages about 6,000 USD - these figures may seem shocking until one realizes how infrequent lawsuits actually occur in this sector of our economy and yes, lawsuits doesn't increases healthcare cost.

3. The National Institute of Medicine reports that American hospitals are the cause for nearly 100,000 deaths and hundreds of thousands more serious injuries every year. A medical malpractice lawsuit is often a long process, but it's worth it to protect your loved ones from falling victim in future incidents as well as protecting other patients by creating safer environments throughout our country.

   Filing a suit against an individual or company who has harmed you can be complicated and difficult - especially if the damages inflicted have been severe over time; however filing one could hold them accountable for their actions while also saving lives in America with stricter hospital regulations moving forward into 2020, as medical malpractice claims punishes medical professionals and at the same time gives compensation to the victims. But most people thought that majority of these claims are not serious, and files only for the sake of getting money but it isn't. The Harvard School for Public Health has reviewed nearly 1,500 medical malpractice lawsuits and they determined that less than 3% lacked the merit necessary to hold doctors or health care providers liable, which is overwhelmingly low to consider this legal procedure is a joke.