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 888-261-5614 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 888-261-5614 today.
Defensive Medicine - Frequently Asked Questions
The exact prevalence of locked-in syndrome, called LIS, is not known. However, it is an extremely rare condition. There is less than one case out of every million people, with only a few dozen cases officially diagnosed. Those whose loved one suffers from this devastating syndrome may try to care for their family member at
Read More
The overwhelming majority of patients with locked-in syndrome never make a full recovery. Most never make any improvement, even a small or incremental one. There are cases of patients completely reversing the condition, but they are exceedingly rare and usually happen because the underlying cause is treatable and gets addressed within hours of onset. Somewhat
Read MoreDefensive Medicine - News Articles
According to the American Cancer Society, one out of every nine American men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetimes. Due to advances in treatment, only one in 41 will die. The key is an early diagnosis. Michael E. Gunter, a Vietnam War veteran, was lucky to survive his bout with prostate cancer,
Read More
On April 9, 2008 Monica Broughton consented to her doctor’s recommendation that they induce labor. Broughton had just learned that she had developed diabetes during her pregnancy. She had also recently been told that her unborn son’s shoulder was stuck behind her pelvis. She never considered an alternative, especially because, according to the lawsuit, Wong
Read More