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Healthcare's Vulture Capitalists, Physicians Practice

Monday, March 12, 2012

It has been quiet lately on the tort-reform front. So quiet, in fact, that one could be forgiven for thinking we had this problem licked.  

Suing doctors is getting easier to finance, too. Possibly the most disgraceful and little-noticed development of the last few years is the emergence of hedge funds that actually invest in large malpractice lawsuits, taking a big chunk of any award out of the patient’s pocket. According to Forbes, such investors injected $1 billion into lawsuits, including med-mal suits, in 2010.


But all this lawsuit abuse means fewer doctors performing more needless tests and procedures for a lot more money. That makes the system’s vultures fatter and reduces everyone’s access to care. But it doesn’t make patients safer.  

The tragedy is that all of this is eminently solvable in a way that’s fair to doctors while protecting and compensating truly wronged patients, if only the trial lawyer-lobby didn’t exercise such influence over lawmakers. 


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