Senior appellate judge Douglas McKeon, who hears cases in New York City, innovated a new approach to resolving medical malpractice lawsuits and the Obama administration has taken notice, an Associated Press article reported. Medical liability, blamed by some as a contributor to rising medical costs, is a contentious issue.
New York injury lawyers specializing in malpractice handle a wide spectrum of cases, ranging from gross negligence to simple human error, but critics say physicians often base their decisions more on liability concerns than the best interests of their patients.
Judge Douglas McKeon, who calls his approach "judge-directed negotiations," said he tries to bring "humanness" to the process by encouraging hospitals and doctors to acknowledge mistakes, while protecting doctors who experience irregularities even after following best practices:
"I don't discuss settlement offers with families right away. I just say, 'Tell me a little bit about your loved one.'"
His goals are in line with the goals of most other interested parties: Prevent errors that cause injuries to patients, cut down on lawsuit costs by shortening trials and cut down on so-called defensive medicine (i.e. ordering expensive but largely unnecessary tests just to shield themselves from liability).
Defensive medicine costs Medicare and Medicaid billions of dollars a year, according to the AP article.
It's not just a novel legal approach, though, as Judge Douglas McKeon also has listened to anatomy classes at area medical schools and read medical journals to educate himself about medicine.
That's why the Obama administration has offered grants totaling $23 million ($3 million for New York) to see how this approach might be expanded.
It's always nice to know that qualified New York personal injury attorneys are there if you need them, but the hope is that a better approach will create greater system-wide efficiencies in the long run.
Related Resources:
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Coming Soon: Medical Malpractice Lawsuit Limits? (FindLaw's Injured Blog)
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