Are sued doctors better doctors?
Not according to a US study, which found few links between higher medicolegal risk and improved healthcare
Doctors who work in an environment with a higher threat of being sued do not necessarily deliver safer, better healthcare, researchers suggest.
In theory, the threat of medical litigation acts as a deterrent to negligent practices in part because of the financial and psychological impacts of being sued, the US authors say.
But their literature review of 37 studies of malpractice deterrence found few links between the risk of litigation and improved healthcare.
“The review ... found that most studies