Medical Malpractice Claims since the Crisis of 1975: Some Good News and Some Bad

Abstract

THE insurance system in the United States for protection of physicians and hospitals against financial loss due to malpractice claims almost collapsed in 1975. Many private insurance carriers withdrew from the field, and the remaining companies increased their premiums in one year from 100 to 750 per cent.¹ The impact on many practitioners was catastrophic. Radical restructuring of the malpractice system, with extensive tort-law reforms, was sought from the state legislatures, and nearly all responded.Among the most important reforms were the adoption of arbitration systems and pretrial screening panels designed to direct the handling of claims away from the . . .