It has been well documented, (and by none less than the Mayo Clinic,) that stress and depression take a toll on both the physician and his patients. Medical malpractice suits, whether founded or baseless, extract a huge price from the targeted physician. For starters, he or she will start questioning all diagnosis, prescriptions and procedures, everything that he or she does — and not in a good way. The erosion of self-confidence can paradoxically reduce the quality of care that patients receive. (1)
Then there’s the cost in time and effort to defend against the claim. Even if a physician acknowledges that there was a legitimate human error, that’s just the beginning of a long, drawn-out process. The doctor can be forced to attend to all of the legal wranglings.
