The Medical Malpractice Myth and over 360,000 other books are available for Amazon Kindle – Amazon’s new wireless reading device. Learn more

 

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
Express Checkout with PayPhrase
What's this? | Create PayPhrase
Sorry!
X
More Buying Choices
34 used & new from $4.55
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
The Medical Malpractice Myth
 
 
Share your own customer images
Search inside another edition of this book
Start reading The Medical Malpractice Myth on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don’t have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here.
 
  

The Medical Malpractice Myth (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: medical malpractice epidemic, restrictive tort reform, heart disease expenses, United States, New Jersey, New York (more...)
3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
List Price: $22.50
Price: $17.55 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
You Save: $4.95 (22%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Only 3 left in stock--order soon (more on the way).

Want it delivered Tuesday, November 10? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details
9 new from $8.95 25 used from $4.55

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
  Kindle Edition, December 1, 2005 $7.67 -- --
  Hardcover, November 30, 2005 $17.55 $8.95 $4.55
  Paperback, July 31, 2007 $10.92 $7.50 $7.49

Frequently Bought Together

The Medical Malpractice Myth + Distorting the Law: Politics, Media, and the Litigation Crisis (Chicago Series in Law and Society) + Worse than Slavery: Parchman Farm and the Ordeal of Jim Crow Justice
Price For All Three: $40.18

Show availability and shipping details

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

The Rise of the Conservative Legal Movement: The Battle for Control of the Law (Princeton Studies in American Politics: Historical, International, and Comparative Perspectives)

The Rise of the Conservative Legal Movement: The Battle for Control of the Law (Princeton Studies in American Politics: Historical, International, and Comparative Perspectives)

by Steven M. Teles
5.0 out of 5 stars (1)  $30.80
Worse than Slavery: Parchman Farm and the Ordeal of Jim Crow Justice

Worse than Slavery: Parchman Farm and the Ordeal of Jim Crow Justice

by David M. Oshinsky
4.4 out of 5 stars (23)  $11.48
Courts and Judicial Policymaking

Courts and Judicial Policymaking

by Christopher P. Banks
$68.20
The Politics of Rights: Lawyers, Public Policy, and Political Change

The Politics of Rights: Lawyers, Public Policy, and Political Change

by Stuart A. Scheingold
3.0 out of 5 stars (1)  $23.95
Damages

Damages

by Barry Werth
4.5 out of 5 stars (14)  $10.88
› Explore similar items

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In January 2005, President Bush declared the medical malpractice liability system "out of control." The president's speech was merely an echo of what doctors and politicians (mostly Republicans) have been saying for years—that medical malpractice premiums are skyrocketing due to an explosion in malpractice litigation. Along comes Baker, director of the Insurance Law Center at the University of Connecticut School of Law, to puncture "the medical malpractice myth" with a talent for reasoned argument and incisiveness. He counters that the real problem is "too much medical malpractice, not too much litigation," and that the cost of malpractice is lost lives and the "pain and suffering of tens of thousands of people every year"—most of whom do not sue. Baker argues that the rise in medical premiums has more to do with economic cycles and the competitive nature of the insurance industry than runaway juries. Finally, Baker offers an alternative in the form of evidence-based medical liability reform that seeks to decrease the incidence of malpractice and also protect doctors from rising premium costs. Having worked with insurance companies, law firms and doctors, Baker brings experience and perspective to his book, which is sure to be important and controversial in future debates. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


Review

"The best attempt to synthesize the academic literature on medical malpractice is Tom Baker's The Medical Malpractice Myth.... [Baker] argues that the hype about medical malpractice suits is 'urban legend mixed with the occasional true story, supported by selective references to academic studies.'... If anything, there are fewer lawsuits than would be expected, and far more injuries than we usually imagine." - Slate" --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 222 pages
  • Publisher: University Of Chicago Press; 1 edition (December 1, 2005)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0226036480
  • ISBN-13: 978-0226036489
  • Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #523,863 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

    #13 in  Books > Nonfiction > Law > Business > Insurance Law
    #13 in  Books > Professional & Technical > Law > Business > Insurance Law
    #14 in  Books > Nonfiction > Law > Family & Health Law > Malpractice

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

More About the Author

Tom Baker
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

› Visit Amazon's Tom Baker Page
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:
Inside This Book (learn more)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
medical malpractice epidemic, restrictive tort reform, heart disease expenses, medical malpractice myth, wasteful defensive medicine, restitution incentive, medical management injuries, hospital record research, ical malpractice lawsuits, medical management injury, malpractice insurance crises, medical malpractice insurance crisis, insurance underwriting cycle, tort reform states, medical liability reform, malpractice insurance companies, medical malpractice insurance company, medical malpractice premiums, medical malpractice insurance premiums, medical malpractice liability, malpractice concerns, insurance cycle, medical liability insurance, malpractice payments, enterprise insurance
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
United States, New Jersey, New York, Tony Sabia, Barry Werth, Department of Public Health, White House, The Courant, The Tribune, Lee Taft, Harvard Medical Practice Study, The Australians, Bridgeport Hospital, Professor Danzon, American Medical Association, Norwalk Hospital, President Bush, American Bar Foundation, Atul Gawande, The Urban Institute, Maryellen Humes, Institute of Medicine, North Carolina
Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

The Medical Malpractice Myth
86% buy the item featured on this page:
The Medical Malpractice Myth 3.9 out of 5 stars (18)
$17.55
Physician, Protect Thyself: 7 Simple Ways Not to Get Sued for Medical Malpractice
5% buy
Physician, Protect Thyself: 7 Simple Ways Not to Get Sued for Medical Malpractice 4.6 out of 5 stars (24)
$18.96
Medical Malpractice
5% buy
Medical Malpractice 4.0 out of 5 stars (1)
$33.60
When Good Doctors Get Sued: A Guide for Defendant Physicians Involved in Malpractice Lawsuits
2% buy
When Good Doctors Get Sued: A Guide for Defendant Physicians Involved in Malpractice Lawsuits
$24.95
Explore similar items

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 
(3)
(2)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
See all 12 tags...

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags
 

Customer Reviews

18 Reviews
5 star:
 (12)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:
 (4)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.9 out of 5 stars (18 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
37 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Model Social Science, December 12, 2005
This book is a model for what social science can do, in four ways.
First, it takes on an important topic--one that has generated incredible heat in the popular press and in political circles.
Second, it takes an entirely fair perspective. Old fashioned as it may seem, the author is actually interested in finding out the truth about the med mal problem.
Third, it surveys the available literature in the social sciences, reads and cogently digests every significant study, and assess the merits of each. The author is not an economist, but his understanding of economics and his sober and astute assessment of the quantitative AND qualitative evidence is terrific.
Finally, the book does all this with a clarity and cogency of writing that make it eminently readable. This is not a dull slog through endless tables and figures. While the empirical evidence is discussed, and there is even some attention paid to issues of methodological reliability and so on, the prose is lucid and no one interested in the topic will find it tough going in the least.
In fact, no one interested in the topic--from doctor to lawyer to politico--can afford not to read this book. If only more social science were this good, the world would be a better place.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
18 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Cogent and Persuasive, January 29, 2006
By Marc Mayerson (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This is a copy of my review from the Insurance Scrawl blog, http://www.insurancescrawl.com :

Nearly 100,000 killed last year, the same rate as in the ongoing, repellent genocide in Darfur. But this figure is the estimate of the number of Americans who die annually due to medical-malpractice errors.

That's one of the key points emphasized in the trenchant new book by Professor Tom Baker, The Medical Malpractice Myth (2005). Baker's slim, accessible, engaging, and well-written volume argues that the prevailing myths concerning medical malpractice and doctors' liability-insurance premiums are the stuff of urban legend.

One of the key contributions of the book is to assemble in one handy place the current literature about the amount of medical malpractice, the number of med-mal claims, the settlement/judgment costs and transaction costs of these cases, insurance premiums, and ups and downs in insurance markets. Baker argues convincingly that there is an epidemic of medical practice in the United States, nearly 100,000 preventable deaths annually, with only a fraction of claims being pursued (and most nonmeritorious claims are resolved before trial and often are dropped). The number of deaths annually exceeds automobile-related and workplace-related deaths combined, yet the medical-liability insurance premiums in toto are a small fraction of the premiums collected for auto and worker's comp.

Baker approaches his study with an open mind and transparently - he shows the reader the evidence, the bases for his interpretation of the evidence, and honestly identifies where the data are uncertain, limited or unclear. The book is quite refreshing in this regard, given the jeremiads one usually sees in these discussions. Baker assembles the evidence that the pricing spikes we see in med-mal insurance are straightforward reflections of the insurance cycle and are not driven (much) by the tort-litigation side. As he writes, "the two most recent medical liability insurance crises did not result from sudden or dramatic increases in medical malpractice settlements or jury verdicts." (p. 53-54) Baker's analysis of the mechanisms of insurance markets and the insurance cycles is consistent with the analyses of Warren Buffett and Richard Stewart, even though most people seem to uncritically adopt the myth of actuarial pricing of insurance.

The Medical Malpractice Myth discusses the evidence of the impact on the supply of doctors and the costs of defensive medicine, arguing ultimately that med-mal claims have little effect. Baker takes the normative position that medical-malpractice claims are good for the system and that the legal system adequately sifts out nonmeritorious claims. Further, Baker tries to gauge the overall costs of the tort system, arguing ultimately that med-mal victims are undercompensated (especially bearing in mind the large majority of potential plaintiffs that do not seek recompense).

Baker further offers his suggestions for reforming the liability, compensation, and insurance systems for medically caused injury. Baker's objective is to get the conversation started. The book is a plea - but not for his proposed reforms per se but rather for an evidence-based discussion of the issues.

Professor Baker bravely went into hostile territory recently at a forum sponsored by the American Enterprise Institute to discuss his book. The forum is available online (including video), and Baker's AEI presentation, the critiques of the discussants, and Baker's rebuttal provide a good overview of the facts, issues, and areas for further research and discussion. I endorse the observation of Professor Martin Grace, one of the AEI "discussants" and a fellow blogger, that it would be profitable to understand better the impact of physician-owned mutual insurance companies on the med-mal insurance market and loss-prevention (i.e., malpractice-injury avoidance) efforts.

Much of Baker's argument is confirmed by the Insurance Information Institute's most recent issue update on medical malpractice (December 2005), which to its credit collects much recent data and leavens it only slightly with its political perspective. In what to me seems as ironic understatement, the III cites a recent Missouri study that "found that the leading grounds for malpractice awards in the state in 2004 were medical errors in diagnoses and surgery." Like Baker, the III cites a study that only one in eight people who suffered from medical-malpractice injury filed a claim. The III further echoes Bush Administration experts who underscored the need to identify and discipline incompetent doctors and encourages risk-management by doctors and hospitals, including requiring doctors to study medical-malpractice prevention and mandating reporting of medical errors (also strongly endorsed by Professor Baker). Furthermore, the III cites a study by an insurance-consulting firm that predicts that the medical-malpractice insurance sector will be profitable in 2006; in 2004 the combined ratio for med-mal insurers was 109.2, meaning that the industry needs an investment return of 9.2 percent on the premiums collected in order to turn a profit. Baker argues that the data show that insurers rarely pay claims that do not substantially indicate malpractice and reports that claims take roughly seven years from premium collection to claim payment, thus giving insurers the opportunity to make their 9 percent investment return (total, not annualized) to be profitable.

It's easy for me to recommend this book, especially to policymakers and their staffs, stakeholders including doctors and their professional organizations, as well as to lawyers, insurers, and laity interested at all in the topic. The Medical Malpractice Myth is iconoclastic but calm and dispassionate in tone. It is informative, easy to read, and short (180 pages). It's not meant to the be the last word on the subject, but rather aims to start a new conversation, one in which you'll be equipped to participate once you read Baker's cogent analysis.

Comment Comment (1) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Our Broken System of Justice, May 5, 2007
This book is a must read for anyone who thinks that tort reform is a good idea. We've tried it in California. The effect has been to effectively immunize health care providers from liability by closing the courthouse door to claims of medical negligence. There is no incentive to improve the health care system or to address the systemic problems that cause most injuries and deaths.

Medical negligence is a fact. Our government estimates that as many as 98,000 people per year die from preventable medical errors. The cost of these errors is enormous and, when our civil justice system is crippled by tort reform, those costs are often shouldered by the public through increased taxes and fees.

Tort law is designed to do two things: to provide just and reasonable compensation to people injured by the negligence or carelessness of another and to discourage behavior likely to result in injury. When we "dis-incentivize" good medical practices by immunizing health care providers, we make it more, not less, likely that people will be injured as a result of medical errors.

There is no evidence of which I am aware that these reforms have benefitted anyone other than big insurance companies. In California, it is increasingly difficult or impossible for patients who are injured by medical errors to receive "just and reasonable" compensation for the harm caused. The cost of litigating such cases is prohibitive in light of the 32-year-old MICRA cap which limits damages to $250,000 in most cases - even those involving gross negligence or the death of a child.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Needs to Check His Facts
Tom Baker has displayed very sloppy research for this book. He takes libelous, sensationalized news articles written by reporters who never interviewed those involved in cases... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Diane Angeluzzi

5.0 out of 5 stars Nothing is over-inflated when you've been damaged!
I had a corneal transplant back when I was just a kid. The doctor never told me how to recognize rejection because supposedly "only five percent of the world's population has... Read more
Published 18 months ago by Life

4.0 out of 5 stars Provocative, yet misguided conclusions!
From my standpoint as a physician, I found the objective data very provocative. However, I consider Tom Baker's conclusions and interpretations based on the data misguided and... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Dr. John A. Hamel V

1.0 out of 5 stars A beginning for our end...
I can do no better than the detailed criticisms of this book already posted. Having practiced surgery for over 30 years and an author myself, I'll tell you Baker's attitude is an... Read more
Published 22 months ago by C. Donato

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Myth-Busting Information
Baker begins by putting malpractice insurance expenditures into perspective. In 2003, doctors, hospitals, and other health professionals paid only about $11 billion in medical... Read more
Published 24 months ago by Loyd E. Eskildson

2.0 out of 5 stars Ignores the real problem
This book does a good job of pointing out the weaknesses and inaccuracies of the major "tort reform" initiatives, but completely ignores the ample evidence pointing to system... Read more
Published on January 4, 2007 by Charles M. Key

5.0 out of 5 stars For the honest physician/medical student.
As a current medical student and son of a malpractice lawyer, I found this book intriguing and insightful. Read more
Published on June 18, 2006 by Med Student 2006

1.0 out of 5 stars lawsuits do not prevent anything
As a physician, I completely disagree with this the author of this book. In fact, how can an insurance professor comment on the complex world of medicinal practice? Read more
Published on June 1, 2006 by P. Amirmokri

5.0 out of 5 stars comprehensive and enlightning
As a personal injury attorney for the past 34 years I was delighted and relieved to read Tom Baker's The Medical Malpractice Myth. Read more
Published on April 7, 2006 by E. R. Fussell

5.0 out of 5 stars Baker's cooking!
This is an excellent analysis of the controversy over increasing medical malpractice liability premiums, and the debate about "tort reform" in medical malpractice law. Read more
Published on March 23, 2006 by Robert B. Leflar

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   

So You'd Like to...

Create a guide

Product Information from the Amapedia Community

Beta (What's this?)

Look for Similar Items by Category

Look for Similar Items by Subject

Search Books by subject:























i.e., each book must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...
 

Feedback

If you need help or have a question for Customer Service, contact us.
 Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
Is there any other feedback you would like to provide?

Your comments can help make our site better for everyone.


Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.