Special Courts for Health Issues: Innovative Solutions Sought for Medical Lawsuits

Wagner, Cynthia G., The Futurist

The case for specialized health courts is receiving new support in the United States as an innovative solution for increasingly complex medical liability lawsuits and other health-related cases. Such courts could reduce the soaring costs of health care by lowering malpractice insurance costs.

Doctors and lawyers are rarely cross-trained in each other's professions, posing a problem when crucial decisions need to be made that are beyond one's specialty. Fear of litigation may prompt physicians to order excessive precautionary tests and procedures, while judges with no medical training must weigh the testimonies of competing experts.

Many health-care organizations, including AARP, are calling for test projects for health courts, according to Common Good, a bipartisan legal-reform coalition. In addition, six hospitals and academic medical centers, such as those at Duke University and Johns Hopkins, …

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Publication information: Article title: Special Courts for Health Issues: Innovative Solutions Sought for Medical Lawsuits. Contributors: Wagner, Cynthia G. - Author. Magazine title: The Futurist. Volume: 40. Issue: 6 Publication date: November-December 2006. Page number: 8+. © 1999 World Future Society. COPYRIGHT 2006 Gale Group.

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