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Just Medicine

Philip K. Howard
New York Times, April 2, 2009

Writing in the New York Times, Common Good Chair Philip K. Howard makes the case for how health courts could transform the culture of health care.  He writes that our current health care system wastes upwards of a $1 trillion a year due in large part to a legal system that terrorizes doctors and causes them to practice defensively.  "Like a cancer," Howard continues, relating how our legal system also affects the quality of care, "this legal anxiety corrodes relationships with patients.  Doctors and nurses don’t want to speak up for fear of assuming legal liability, and this causes unnecessary errors."  What's needed to restore trust between doctors and patients, he argues, is a new system of medical justice like health courts.  "America needs special health courts aimed not at stopping lawsuits but at delivering fair and reliable decisions," Howard explains.  "A court that freed doctors from worries about unnecessary and unreasonable malpractice claims would transform the culture of health care.  Doctors could finally emerge from their defensive cocoons and start focusing on the health of the patient.  Hospitals would concentrate on productivity and safety.  Doctors could be more candid about decisions for terminally ill patients, and offer more guidance about high-risk procedures."  » article 

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