Another Effect of Too Many Attorneys on Health Care

You have probably noticed that neither of the Health Care Reform Bills before Congress contains anything about putting a cap on litigations against hospitals or physicians.  Though much desired by physicians and providers, the lawyer lobby has proved too strong, and discussion on this topic has been silenced.  However, there is new evidence that lawyers have a relevant influence on good healthcare – albeit an undesirable one.

The idea behind a study reported in the American Journal of Therapeutics is the following:  MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus infection) is increasing alarmingly.  One reason is the over-prescribing of antibiotics, which encourages (or permits) resistant bacterial strains to emerge more easily.  And why is there over-prescribing by physicians?  Could it be fear of litigation? 

A New York Medical College team analyzed census figures, population densities of attorneys and physicians, and antibiotic utilization for the USA, Canada, and 15 European countries.  Their principal finding were strong correlations between the prevalence of methicillin resistance, antibiotic prescribing, and the density of attorneys in North America and Europe.  There was no such correlation between the prevalence of MRSI and the density of physicians.       

The results of this study suggest that medical tort reform might be a way to reduce healthcare costs and improve the quality of care.   As with other omissions from the Health Care Reform Bills (e.g. cheaper drug imports from abroad), we should encourage efforts to resurrect tort reform in 2010.