Dartmouth Atlas and Physician Supply - No Relation to "Tort Reform"

First it was the GAO.  Then the Bureau of Economic Research.  The Cincinnati Enquirer.  The Texas Observer.  What are we talking about?  Clear evidence by any credible benchmark that there is no link between state “tort reform” laws and where doctors decide to practice.

So we can’t say we were altogether surprised by, but certainly happy to hear from David Goodman, M.D., M.S., Professor of Pediatrics and Health Policy at Dartmouth Medical School in an email to me yesterday.  Goodman is co-investigator of the highly respected Dartmouth Atlas, which analyzes and ranks health care spending and has been the basis of a lot of discussion, including within the Obama administration, about why certain areas of the country are so costly.

Here is what his email to me said today:

“We haven't explicitly analyzed this, but I agree with the impression that physician supply in general bears no relationship to state tort reform, or lack thereof.”

Wow, you can’t have a more credible assessment than this.  So is it clear enough now?  There is no correlation between the state doctors choose to practice in (or not), and whether that state's laws strip injured patients of their legal rights.