Arizona has a medical malpractice crisis but it is not the kind insurance companies, doctors and politicians complain about. Although the population of the state has increased greatly over the last 15 years, the number of medical malpractice cases filed in the courts of Arizona has fallen by nearly half. In 2014, only 364 medical malpractice cases were filed in the entire state. In 2002 there were almost twice as many. While it would be comforting to believe that fewer filed cases mean that doctors and hospitals are harming fewer people and practicing better medicine, sadly that is not the case. Fewer cases are being filed because juries are extremely reluctant to find in favor of injured patients and lawyers who take these cases recognize this and limit the cases they take to only the most egregious ones. The legislature has played its part as well. Arizona has many restrictive rules which apply only to medical malpractice cases and which were adopted with the stated intention of making it harder for injured patients to make a recovery.
We have discussed in past posts the many reasons why juries are reluctant to find against doctors and, to a lesser extent, against hospitals. Jurors want to do the right thing but they have been bombarded with stories of doctors being driven out of practice by “frivolous” lawsuits. Jurors have also been told repeatedly that medical malpractice cases are the reason their health care costs and health insurance premiums are going up so fast. From a psychological standpoint, it is upsetting to believe that doctors and hospitals make mistakes which kill people, so it is hard for jurors to accept that fact.
The victims of the current Arizona medical malpractice crisis are the patients and the families of patients who have been harmed by medical negligence but who cannot find a lawyer to take their case. In today’s hostile environment, there are more of them than ever. One of the most disappointing parts of my job is telling patients that they have been the victim of medical negligence but that I cannot take their case because the chances of getting a recovery for them is too low to justify the time and expense of bringing the case and exposing them to the risk of the judgment that would be entered against them should the case be lost. Arizona should be ashamed of the way it treats those of its citizens who have been injured by medical negligence but who are told to just suck it up and stop complaining.
