Pro Publica, the excellent investigative reporting group which has an ongoing series about harm to patients in our health care system, has a new piece on why many victims of poor care cannot find an attorney to represent them in a malpractice lawsuit. Reporter Marshall Allen quotes me among others about the harsh economic reality of the legal system.
Here’s the dilemma. We could make the system quicker and cheaper, but that likely would happen only by cutting down on the rights of injured patients to seek accountability in our jury trial system. And that’s not a very good idea either.
Meantime, our website has extensive resources for patients and families who want to make complaints about quality of care, many of which are very valid even if they don’t make for a viable lawsuit.