New study finds defensive medicine costs the USA $45 billion

A study reported in the 2010 issue of Health Affairs has found that costs related to medical liability account for more than $55 billion a year or 2.4% of the total costs to the US health care system. According to the study, approximately 80%, or $45 billion of these costs are the result of defensive medicine, procedures performed to avoid unnecessary litigation.

Commenting on the report, Lisa Maas, executive director of Californians Allied for Patient Protection (CAPP), issued "Common sense dictates that if health care practitioners are looking over their shoulders and constantly worried about getting sued, they will take action to cover themselves. These actions have societal costs and this recent study found that the costs impact us by more than $45 billion per year. Meritless law suits do not result in better care, just more dollars spent on defensive medicine, unnecessary tests and litigation costs that drive up the cost of healthcare for everyone.”

She continued: "The study demonstrates that, if national medical liability tort reform were implemented to limit meritless law suits, it could produce a national health care savings of tens of billions of dollars. That is a significant savings. It would free up these funds to care for the uninsured, make insurance more affordable, or provide new dollars for more research.