Defensive medicine is the term used to describe the practice of doctors ordering unnecessary tests and procedures, because they are scared of being sued for malpractice.  To date, the argument supporting defensive medicine hasn’t been too convincing.  However, that doesn’t seem to stop researchers from trying to drum up figures showing it exists.

One of the most recent studies, which was published in Health Affairs, reported that the yearly cost associated with medical liability hovers around $55.6 billion.  According to researchers, a large percentage of this amount ($45.6 billion) is linked to defensive medicine.

Researchers from Harvard University and the University of Melbourne conducted the study.  The Wall Street Journal reported that the study authors admitted, “defensive medicine is the hardest piece of the liability costs puzzle to calculate.”  Michelle Mello, one of the authors, stated that a portion of the analysis was “based on synthesis of the best available previous” research.

The American Association for Justice (AAJ) believes that limiting the rights of injured patients will do little to lower healthcare costs.  The organization feels that the focus should be on decreasing the amount of deaths each year that result from avoidable medical errors.

For more information regarding medical negligence, be sure to order Virginia medical malpractice attorney Ben Glass’s controversial book, Why Most Medical Malpractice Victims Never Recover a Dime.

It is very difficult to estimate the actual cost of defensive medicine, because there are very few doctors who would admit to doing it.  Determining that this practice even exists is challenging.  If doctors report that they participate in defensive medicine, they are basically admitting that they practice outside the realm of the standard of care.  This admission sounds like the very definition of medical malpractice, which is defined as deviating from the acceptable standard of care.

Also, if doctors admit to practicing defensive medicine, it means that they are committing insurance fraud.  Insurance companies are only obligated to pay claims that are reasonable and necessary to treat an illness or injury.

One of the best ways to determine if defensive medicine exists is to review patients’ medical records.  However, this type of review is never done.  A doctor isn’t going to admit to conducting defensive medicine and then say, “Here are the records to prove it.”