The choice between malpractice and insurance fraud

A choice that physicians face multiple times daily. And people still say that defensive medicine doesn’t amount to much:

Having been involved in two malpractice cases””one that resulted in a judgment against me and a second that was dismissed””I’ve learned something about efforts to assign blame. Despite the ruling of negligence against me, the hospital peer review (excluded from evidence at trial) found “excellent care, well-documented.” The jury apparently disagreed.

Every day I work as a doctor, I must choose between committing malpractice and committing insurance fraud. If I order enough tests to show even a reasonable defense, I will be far exceeding the acceptable approach to diagnosing a common medical problem. My jury apparently believed that a CT of the abdomen is the appropriate test to order to “completely” diagnose a UTI or investigate diarrhea. My second suit taught me that if I order extensive radiological studies, I will still be sued.

Imagine if he hadn’t ordered expensive tests in the second case. He probably would have lost that case as well.

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