Medical Negligence 2

The second paper in this series looks at how damages are awarded in medical negligence cases and suggests reasons why they have increased over recent years. It then goes on to assess whether the UK is facing, or is about to face, an American‐style ‘malpractice crisis’. It is well known that the numbers of claims and the size of the awards of damages in the USA have led to doctors either paying astronomical sums in insurance premiums or failing to insure at all, rather risking bankruptcy in the event of litigation. The conclusion is, from the available evidence cited, that such a crisis has not occurred in Great Britain and will not occur, at least in the foreseeable future. Part 3 of the series follows on p. 282.