Defensive Medicine
Defensive medicine refers to any medical practice that a doctor or healthcare professional undertakes to avoid or minimize the chance of a malpractice lawsuit.
Defensive medicine refers to any medical practice that a doctor or healthcare professional undertakes not to serve the best interests of the patient, but to avoid or minimize the chance of a malpractice lawsuit. Defensive medicine results in billions of wasted dollars every year, a price that eventually trickles down to the patient.
Examples of Defensive Medicine
When a healthcare professional bases a decision not on what is best for the patient, but on what will give him or her the least exposure to liability, the professional is practicing defensive medicine.
Some examples of defensive medicine include:
- Ordering unnecessary tests.
- Prescribing medication at higher doses or for longer periods than necessary.
- Overtreating patients with antibiotics.
- Avoiding high-risk patients.
- Performing unnecessary procedures.
A disconcerting aspect of defensive medicine is that most patients have no idea when it is being practiced on them.
The Cost of Defensive Medicine
According to a 2014 report in JAMA Internal Medicine, the practice of defensive medicine costs Americans around $46 billion each year. Equally concerning is how pervasive the practice is. The same report found that 28 percent of orders and 13 percent of costs reviewed were at least partially defensive, while nearly three percent were completely defensive.
For Help With a Medical Malpractice Issue, Call Newsome Melton Today at 855-633-2757 for a Free Case Evaluation
The medical malpractice attorneys at Newsome Melton want to hear from you about any issues you are facing. We can help you recover damages for injuries you suffered in a medical malpractice incident. To get a free consultation, call 855-633-2757 today.
Defensive Medicine - Frequently Asked Questions
Florida is a pure comparative negligence state. Under Florida law, the claimant and defendant can share fault in a medical malpractice case. If the claimant contributed to their own injuries, their compensation from the defendant is reduced in proportion to their blame. Even if the fault is shared, a claimant will receive some compensation for
Read More
Of the approximately 300,000 American women who have breast augmentation surgery each year, some 240,000 choose the procedure for cosmetic reasons. For the remainder, breast augmentation is a reconstructive surgery following mastectomy or accidental breast scarring. The number of annual breast augmentations makes the operation the most common cosmetic surgery performed in the United Sates,
Read MoreDefensive Medicine - News Articles
North Carolina Family Files Lawsuit Against Cape Fear Valley Health System Less than a year ago, David Edward Bryant, Sr., who was then 67, lost his balance and fell. Bryant, who was awarded the Purple Heart for his service in Vietnam, suffered bruising, but at the time of the fall avoided any major injuries. He
Read More
Early in 2014, Dominique Adkins underwent an operation to have her thyroid gland removed at a hospital in Charleston, West Virginia. Adkins, 38 at the time, came out of the operation unable to speak and in severe pain. According to a medical malpractice lawsuit, filed in March 2016, her doctor allegedly impaired critical nerves in
Read More