Ezra Klein, who writes on health and medicine for Slate, posted an article today about the ongoing political battle over malpractice lawsuits. The Republican leadership in the Senate wants to cap jury awards in medical malpractice cases, while the Democrats are focused on cutting the number of malpractice lawsuits by reducing medical errors.
Klein brings Tom Baker’s The Medical Malpractice Myth into the debate, calling it “the best attempt to synthesize the academic literature on medical malpractice.” “Baker marshals an overwhelming array of research,” says Klein, who goes on to use that evidence—as well as other just-released studies of medical malpractice suits—to argue that it makes more sense to improve medical practice.
Read an excerpt from the book.