Lethal Medicine: The Epidemic of Medical Malpractice in America - Hardcover

Wachsman, Harvey F.; Alschuler, Steven

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0805025138 ISBN 13: 9780805025132

Publisher: Henry Holt & Co, 1993

Synopsis

Lethal Medicine is the first book to thoroughly examine malpractice, and its author, Harvey F. Wachsman, M.D., J.D., as both a respected neurosurgeon and the leading attorney in the field, is uniquely qualified to critique this problem from every angle. Using numerous case histories and authoritative data from university and government studies, Wachsman explodes the common myths that doctors are spending millions of dollars on "defensive medicine" and that the high cost of malpractice insurance is driving many doctors out of their practices. In fact, he argues that most malpractice cases actually do result from egregious abuses by doctors. Reviewing the latest court rulings and malpractice policies, Wachsman calls for the legal community, government, and medical establishment to protect the public from the thousands of physicians who continue to practice irresponsible medicine without penalty.

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews

Rigorous scrutiny of medical malpractice by a physician/lawyer who charges that the medical profession needs to clean up its act. Wachsman (a neurosurgeon and also a partner in a Washington, D.C., law firm specializing in medical malpractice) states that each year twice as many people die at the hands of their physicians as in highway accidents. In his experience, most malpractice lawsuits involve the failure of a physician either to be present when needed, to take an adequate medical history, or to perform an adequate examination. Wachsman illustrates each of these failings with horrific stories and includes the legal outcome in each case, as well as the medical one. He dismisses as myth the argument that doctors are being forced to practice defensive medicine, claiming that physicians who perform unnecessary tests and procedures are motivated primarily by profit. Exposing malpractice is essential if the public is to be protected, Wachsman says, and he provides convincing evidence of cover-up and lack of self-discipline by members of the medical profession. The author urges numerous reforms--including stricter regulation, better reporting of physician misbehavior and hospital deficiencies, and a change in attitude by both doctors and patients--and he offers pointers on how to become a more discriminating health-care consumer. His advice includes tips on selecting and communicating with a doctor, getting second or third opinions, choosing a hospital, and checking the credentials of every doctor involved in treatment. Persuasive arguments, backed by facts and presented with authority, on yet another aspect of the national debate over health care. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Wachsman, with degrees in medicine and law, shows that medical malpractice is indeed an epidemic, one costing 100,000 lives and 500,000 serious injuries each year. Yet only one patient in every 25 injured by malpractice is compensated. Wachsman's firm receives more than a hundred potential malpractice cases every week and, after preliminary investigation, accepts three. One of the driving forces behind the "plague" of malpractice, he and Alschuler say, is the failure of state medical boards and medical societies to discipline their members for malpractice. Besides citing a number of horrific examples of malpractice, the pair examine "defensive medicine," which some physicians say they are pushed into by the fear of lawsuits, and show that it is just another method for physicians to build up their incomes. They also demonstrate the benefits to medicine of several highly touted tort reforms and counter the medical charge of "frivolous suits" with their own charge of "frivolous defenses," of which they give examples. Finally, they advise when--and when not--to sue and how to select a competent physician. William Beatty

About this edition

• Publisher: Henry Holt & Co
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 0805025138
• ISBN 13: 9780805025132
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 222