Chapter 4.G: Medical Malpractice Reform

Supplemental Bibliography

On the malpractice crisis generally, see Michelle Mello et al., The New Medical Malpractice Crisis, 348 New Eng. J. Med. 2281 (2003); Marc A. Rodwin et al., Why the Medical Malpractice Crisis Persists Even When Malpractice Insurance Premiums Fall, 25 Health Matrix 163 (2015).  For relevant government documents, see U.S. Dept. Health and Human Services, Confronting the New Health Care Crisis: Improving Health Care Quality and Lowering Costs by Fixing our Medical Liability System (2002); U.S. Government Accounting Office, Medical Malpractice: Implications of Rising Premiums on Access to Health Care (GAO-03-836, 2003); U.S. Government Accounting Office, Medical Malpractice Insurance: Multiple Factors have Contributed to Increased Premium Rates (GAO-03-702, 2003); Congressional Budget Office (2009). For alternative perspectives, see American Association for Justice and the AMA.  

Three good overviews of the impact of malpractice reforms are Michelle M. Mello, Medical Malpractice: Impact of the Crisis and Effect of State Tort Reforms (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2006); Michelle M. Mello, Understanding Medical Malpractice Insurance: A Primer (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2006); and the RAND Corporation's reports. 

Advocating for a stronger federal role in reform, see Abigail R. Moncrieff, Federalization Snowballs: The Need for National Action in Medical Malpractice Reform, 109 Colum. L. Rev. 844 (2009). 

On malpractice insurance premiums, see Bernard Black, et al., Medical Liability Insurance Premia: 1990-2016 Dataset, with Literature Review and Summary Information, 14 J. Empirical Leg. Stud. 238 (2017)

For additional reviews of traditional and innovative reforms, alternatives to the tort system, and their effects, see Ronen Avraham & Max Schanzenbach, The Impact of Tort Reform on Private Health Insurance Coverage, 12 Am. L. & Econ. Rev. 319 (2010); Mary Coombs, How Not to Do Medical Malpractice Reform: A Florida Case Study, 18 Health Matrix 373 (2008); Frank Sloan & Lindsey M. Chepke, Ill-Suited? Medical Malpractice at a Crossroads (2008); Jan Ambrose & Anne Carroll, Medical Malpractice Reform and Insurer Claims Defense, 32 J. Health Pol. Pol’y L. 843 (2007); Teresa M. Waters et al, Impact of State Tort Reforms on Physician Malpractice Payments, 26(2) Health Affairs 500 (2007); W. Sage & Rogan Kersh eds., Medical Malpractice and the U.S. Health Care System (2006); Black, Bernard S. and Silver, Charles M. and Hyman, David A. and Sage, William Matthew, Stability, Not Crisis: Medical Malpractice Claim Outcomes in Texas, 1988-2002, 2 J. Empir. L. Stud. 207 (2005); Michael J. Saks et al., A Multiattribute Utility Analysis of Legal System Response to Medical Injuries, 54 DePaul L. Rev. 277 (2005); Lucinda M. Finley, The Hidden Victims of Tort Reform: Women, Children, and the Elderly, 53 Emory L.J. 1263 (2004); Catherine Struve, Doctors, the Adversary System, and Procedural Reform in Medical Liability Litigation, 72 Fordham L. Rev. 943 (2004); Michelle Mello & Troyen Brennan, Medical Malpractice, 350 New Eng. J. Med. 283 (2004);  Symposium, 37 U. Mem. L. Rev. 455 (2007); Symposium, 59 Vand. L. Rev. 1017 (2006); Symposium, 27 J. Leg. Med. 1 (2006); Symposium, 26 N. Ill. U. L. Rev. 439 (2006); Symposium, 33 J. L. Med. & Ethics 414 (2005); Symposium, 5 Yale J. Health Pol’y L. & Ethics 341 (2005); Symposium, 54 DePaul L. Rev. 203 (2005); Symposium, 23(4) Health Aff. (2004). For a historical account, see Martin H. Redish, Legislative Response to the Medical Malpractice Insurance Crisis: Constitutional Implications, 55 Tex. L. Rev. 759 (1977).

Notes 4 and 5: Constitutional Challenges

On constitutional challenges to medical malpractice reform statutes, see Alexander Volokh, Medical Malpractice as Workers' Comp: Overcoming State Constitutional Barriers to Tort Reform, 67 Emory L.J. 975 (2018); Michelle M. Mello et al., Policy Experimentation with Administrative Compensation for Medical Injury: Issues Under State Constitutional Law, 45 Harv. J. on Legis. 59 (2008); Carly Kelly & Michelle Mello, Are Medical Malpractice Damages Caps Unconstitutional?, 33 J. L. Med. & Ethics 515 (2005).

Note 6: No-Fault Compensation

On the pros and cons of no-fault compensation, see Philip G. Peters, Jr., Health Courts? 88 B.U. L. Rev. 227 (2008); Note, 7 Yale J. Health Pol’y L. & Ethics 387 (2007); Maxwell Mehlman & Dale Nance, Medical Injustice: The Case Against Health Courts (2007); Michelle Mello et al., “Health Courts” and Accountability for Patient Safety, 84 Milbank Q. 459 (2006); Catherine Struve, Doctors, the Adversary System, and Procedural Reform in Medical Liability Litigation, 72 Fordham L. Rev. 943 (2004); Eleanor D. Kinney, Administrative Law Approaches to Medical Malpractice Reform, 49 St. Louis U. L. J. 45 (2004); Symposium, 33 J. Health Pol. Pol’y & L. 725 (2008); Symposium, J. Health Care L. & Policy 217 (2006).  

On “neo-no fault,” see Jeffrey O’Connell & Evan Stephenson, Binding Statutory Early Offers by Defendants, Not Plaintiffs, in Personal Injury Suits, 54 DePaul L. Rev. 233 (2005); J. Hersch et al., An Empirical Assessment of Early Offer Reform for Medical Malpractice, 36 J. Leg. Stud. 119 (2007).