Abstract

Over the years, our understanding of medical malpractice has been plagued by a number of myths, many of which have been exposed by a remarkable series of reports from two groups.<sup>1-3</sup>As a result of these reports, and contrary to popular belief, we know that adverse events due to negligent practice rarely result in a lawsuit (only 2% of such events lead to malpractice claims),<sup>1</sup>juries are not systematically biased against physicians (malpractice defendants win more than two thirds of cases, a better record than defendants in other kinds of personal injury cases),<sup>2,4</sup>and juries decide cases on the basis of the physician's quality of care rather than the patient's severity of injury.<sup>2</sup> See also p 1697. In this issue, Burstin et al<sup>3</sup>expose another persistent myth about medical malpractice. It is commonly believed that poor patients are more likely than wealthier patients to bring

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