Med Mal Practices Around the World

We know that med mal can vary greatly from state to state. But how do other countries around the world handle med mal? (We mean, other Western countries…) And, can we learn anything from these other countries? The Economist recently had a nice article reviewing med mal practices around the world. The article primarily focused on the concept of “loser-pays.” So, who, around the world uses the loser-pays med mal model? Let’s see.

In the US, currently only Texas and Alaska have a version of a loser-pays tort law. Florida had such a law from 1980-1985. However, in the much of the Western world, including England, Canada and Germany, loser-pays is the way it is in the world of med mal. Despite three US states mentioned above trying the model, the article argues that we haven’t given it a proper try in this country. It claims that the current loser-pay med mal laws we have are weak and need to be stronger. See the article for further details about how our laws could be stronger.

We here at MyMedicalMalpracticeInsurance.com like the concept of loser-pays and would like to see it go further. This kind of med mal reform can only help deter frivolous lawsuits, which we also support. The article then goes on to discuss med mal damage caps –a concept 30 or so states have tried –which we also like and would like to see more of. See the article for more details.