Defensive medicine and disappearing doctors?

In: Regulation: the Cato review of business and government, Band 28, Heft 3, S. 24-31

Abstract

Explores four questions regarding the impact of medical malpractice liability costs by analyzing data from a variety of sources. Examined are differences between states and overtime in malpractice payments and premiums, the physician workforce, use of and spending on medical procedures, and health insurance premiums. Findings indicate that indirect and anecdotal evidence on the effects may be misleading. Increases in malpractice payments do not seem to be driving premium increases. Increases in malpractice costs do not seem to affect the overall size of the physician workforce, although they may affect some subsets of the population more severely. The strongest effect of greater malpractice pressures is found in the increases use of imaging services, but little evidence is found of increased use of major surgical procedures. It is concluded that state-level tort reform is unlikely to affect medicine by averting local physician shortages.