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What's the cause of the health care crisis? lawyers representing injured patients cause the

Lawyers who represent people who have been injured by the carelessness of their health care providers hear all the time that it is our lawsuits that have caused doctors to leave their medical practices.  Because we sue doctors and other health care providers, we are accused of being the reason that citizens in some states do not have enough doctors to take care of their families. 

Frankly, that's a lie.

Research by the doctors' own group, the American Medical Association, shows just the opposite -- the number of doctors has increased in every state and has doubled the number of doctors per capita since the 1960s.  These results were reported in the AMA's Physician Characteristics and Distribution report (that for some reason has been discontinued).

For years, insurance companies for health care providers and medical societies have worked to pass laws all over the country that limit patients' access to justice by putting caps (limits) on the amount a severely injured patient can recover for their injuries.  Medical societies and insurance companies have claimed for years that without such limits on patients' rights, doctors would leave the practice.  "Frivolous lawsuits" were touted as a major reason for the need for caps on the rights of severely injured patients to recover for the injuries caused by their health care providers.  Now we know from the AMA's own information that has not happened.  For more information setting the record straight, see this article.

The AMA and the Virginia Medical Society will not tell you the real cause of medical malpractice lawsuits:  negligent health care providers.