Medical error and malpractice litigation in the US
Media Release, Friday 15 April 2005
A Harvard University malpractice litigation expert will consider what lessons the United States’ turbulent history in the area of medical malpractice may have for Australia in a free public lecture next week.
Associate Professor of Law and Public Health at Harvard School of Public Health, David Studdert, will deliver the lecture, titled "Medical Error and Malpractice Litigation in the United States" at the University of Melbourne on Tuesday April 19.
Associate Professor Studdert graduated from the University of Melbourne in 1992 and worked as a policy advisor to the Victorian Minister for Health, the late Hon Marie Tehan, before completing a Masters in Public Health and a Doctorate of Science from Harvard University. He joined the faculty at the Harvard School of Public Health in 2000.
Dr Studdert said there were few issues in US health care as contentious as medical negligence litigation.
“Doctors generally despise malpractice claims. They see them as random events that are expensive and cause a great deal of emotional turmoil,” he said.
“Plaintiffs’ attorneys and some consumer groups, on the other hand, see litigation quite differently. They regard it as a critical safeguard against carelessness in medicine.”
In a number of countries the debate has reached fever pitch in recent years, with policymakers now responding.
“President Bush has identified reform of the medical malpractice system as one of his administration’s top health care priorities.
"Many states have already moved ahead with reforms designed to control litigation. The similarity of some of these reforms to changes in Australian law is quite remarkable,” he said.
WHAT: Medical Error and Malpractice Litigation in the United States: Associate Professor David Studdert
WHERE: Melbourne Law School, 185 Pelham Street Carlton. Mel Ref: 2B C9
WHEN: Tuesday April 19 from 5.30pm.
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