Dear Editor:

The opinion piece offered by Patricia Greenstreet, representing personal-injury lawyers, is puzzling at best and insulting at worst (“Debunking a myth: an epidemic of medical malpractice, not of malpractice lawsuits”). 

The issue of medical liability has been debated inside and out over the past number of years and those providing the most compelling information have been physicians.  They, of course, know firsthand about the costs of healthcare. 

Our doctors have told us for years that the cost of the liability system hampers their ability to provide healthcare.  In fact, many curtail the services they offer.  One outrageous cost in the medical system is “defensive medicine.”  Make no mistake; this is a routine component of the healthcare system and it costs us dearly. 

According to a recent physician study, about 83 percent reported practicing defensive medicine, with an average of between 18 percent and 28 percent of tests, procedures, referrals, and consultations and 13 percent of hospitalizations ordered for defensive reasons. Such practices were estimated to cost a minimum of $1.4 billion per year in one state alone. 

Although personal-injury lawyers would like us to ignore the overwhelming costs of the medical liability system, we simply cannot afford to do so. 

Dana Childers
Executive Director
Liability Reform Coalition
2033 6th Avenue, Suite 1100
Seattle, WA  98121
425-868-2698 work
206-953-0342 cell
dana@walrc.org