Medical Malpractice

With all the hype around medical malpractice, it is hard to get the real story. The problem is that, like violent crime or terrorism, the idea of a doctor making a terrible mistake taps into a primitive fear of ours. Who is not frightened of the idea of becoming terribly sick, or even dying early because of a careless mistake made by a doctor. The horrible tales of surgeries gone awry, or of prescriptions written in such a sloppy hand that they were not filled correctly and made the patient sicker than before, thrill and terrify the listener.

The fact is, however, that the risks of medical malpractice are greatly overstated. I have worked on both sides of the issue, so I know. I have been, on the one hand, a medical malpractice attorney for many years. Before that, however, I was a medical malpractice doctors advocate, so I know what the perception is among the medical community. I can tell you this much: doctors are some of the most competent, highly trained professionals in this country today. Yes there are bad apples in every bunch, but the risks associated with medical malpractice are much lower than us lawyers would lead you to believe. If you think you have been a victim of medical negligence or malpractice, by all means hire a professional attorney. On the other hand, however, sometimes diseases happen and there's nothing that you can do.

The fact is, the reason that people hire medical malpractice attorneys is generally because they are unable to come to terms with their own mortality. We trust doctors, and we think that they can make us better. When they cannot make us better, it feels like a betrayal. In reality, however, doctors are limited by the medical technology available at the time. Sometimes the medication isn't good enough, or the disease is not caught early enough, and there is just nothing that they can do. Other times, the patient has a condition so rare that the doctor does not spot it in time. This is not medical malpractice. This is just a reflection of the fact that doctors are only human.

If lawyers did not rule this country – and lawyers do rule this country – medical malpractice laws would be drastically different. Doctors would be presumed innocent until proven guilty like everyone else. The burden of proof would be much higher than it is now. But that just is not the way it works.