Tort reform is a controversial subject that raises a lot of questions. This issue has two sides and both sides are very adamant about their position. Before deciding for yourself if tort reform is required, it is important to understand what it is intended to achieve and what it would entail.
While New York is not one of the states that gives protection to medical professionals who apologize for a medical error, some facilities and practitioners around the country have noted that saying “I’m sorry” often reduces the risk of a lawsuit. In the past, the more common practice has been denial, but apologizing is becoming more common.
NYC Health + Hospitals, a public benefit corporation that operates several clinics and public hospitals in New York City, paid out $124 million to plaintiffs in medical malpractice complaints in 2015. The total amount that it paid was a drop from the $133 million that it paid to injured patients in 2014. However, medical malpractice claims against the organization rose from 536 to 552 in 2015.
According to the Institute of Medicine, every year, about 100,000 fatalities are caused by medical errors. It was reported in a 2006 New England Journal of Medicine article that approximately 97 percent of medical malpractice claims are a result of injury. According to further data, medication prescription and administration errors account for over 1.5 million personal injuries every year.
An estimated 440,000 people in the United States are killed every year by hospital, physician, or nurse errors. Medical errors rank third among the most common causes of death in the country. According to the US Bureau of Justice Statistics, approximately 50% of all the medical malpractice cases that are pursued by patients are against their surgeons.
