Medical Malpractice: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The underpinning of medical practice has always been patient care and patient safety. The past several decades, however, have seen an erosion of the patient-doctor relationship. A number of factors have contributed to the ongoing medical malpractice crisis that continues in the United States. There are three social goals of malpractice litigation: to deter unsafe practices, to compensate persons injured through negligence, and to exact corrective justice. This article examines how well the current system achieves these goals.