Oh Yeah, it's PopTort Quiz Time Again!

OK kids, outta the pool now! Summer school is here, and that means it’s PopTort PopQuiz time! Thanks to the Center for Justice & Democracy's new updated medical malpractice briefing book, we have all kinds of new info about what’s going on in the world of medical malpractice litigation, patient safety, and more. And it comes just in time for the new Oxygen TV series on med mal, called "License to Kill." Yikes! So let's get going!

1. Between 2007-2016, the number (frequency) of medical malpractice cases:

1. Increased 70%
2. Increased 25%
3. Stayed flat
4. Decreased more than 25%

The answer is “d.” According to CRICO, during those 10 years, case frequency dropped 27%, “with an especially compelling trend for obstetricians-gynecologists.” Specifically,  “For ob/gyns (whose rate is historically higher than the average for all MDs), the risk of having an MPL case filed against them dropped 44% from 2007–2016.”  What’s more, the average payment grew at a rate that is below medical inflation,

2. What percentage of doctors with at least five medical malpractice claims are still in practice?

1. 5%
2. 25%
3. 50%
4. 90%

That would be “d.” Researchers who examined data on paid claims between 2003-2015 found not only that 90% are still practicing, but that the “overwhelming majority of doctors who had five or more paid claims…moved to solo practice and small groups more often, where there’s even less oversight, so those problematic doctors may produce even worse outcomes.” 

3. True or false: There is no “quality of care” information available for about 50% of doctors treating Medicare patients.

False, although it’s kind of a trick questions. The actual number of 75%. Researchers trying to find data on 1 million U.S. doctors made available online by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services found, “Three quarters of clinicians have no information about their quality of care.” Moreover, “99 percent of those in the online system have no data tied to their individual job performance, “making it hard for patients to know who might be a better or worse choice among several physicians at one clinic.”

4. On a similar note, true or false: data about maternal deaths or severe childbirth complications at hospitals are readily available to patients.

False. As USA Today found, “Even though pregnancy and childbirth is the No. 2 reason for hospitalization in this country, the federal government doesn’t require hospitals to tell the public how often mothers die or suffer from childbirth complications…  USA TODAY’s investigation for the first time published rates of severe childbirth complications at hundreds of hospitals.  It’s a number that many hospitals and experts use privately – but don’t think should be shared publicly.”

5. After Texas enacted severe “tort reform” measures in 2003 (in fact asking residents to change their own state constitution to do so), threatening that without these Draconian laws doctors would leave the state, access to medical care grew:

1. 75%
2. 50%
3. 25%
4. Zero

Yup, the answer is “d.”  Researchers found, “HB 4 [the “tort reforms” laws enacted in Texas in 2003] had no measurable effect on the size of Texas’ physician population. The impact of HB 4 on Texans’ access to medical treatments is best described as both close to zero, and precisely estimated.” 

6. True or false.  When a state caps damages, rates for cardiac stress tests and other imaging tests, Medicare Part B lab and radiology spending, all rise.

That is true. Researchers say, “[A] core message from our findings is that, writ large, the ‘adopt damage caps, reduce spending’ story lacks empirical support. “

8. During surgery, which of these random factors can lead to serious errors:

1. A negative thought passing through the surgeon’s mind
2. A loud noise in the operating room
3. Both things
4. Neither thing

The answer is “c”.  According to researchers, either of these random things makes surgeons “prone to make mistakes that can cause bleeding, torn tissue, or burns.”

9. When it comes to preventing deaths from medical errors, out of 195 countries in the world, the U.S. ranks:

1. At the top
2. In the top 10
3. In the top 50
4. Below the top 50

You guessed it. The answer is “d.” The United States, the health care of which is supposedly the "envy of the world," isn't even in the top 50. More specifically, “After analyzing how well the United States fared at preventing deaths from medical errors, Global health researchers gave the U.S. a 70 out of 100. More than 55 countries exceeded that score.”

Ok that enough depressing information for the day. Back in the pool kids!