Liability of Manufacturers and Providers of Health Related Goods and Services: Confronting the Dilemma

Abstract

In this Article, Theodore Cooper, M.D., Assistant Secretary for Health at HEW, contends that the crush of lawsuits brought by aggrieved health care consumers against medical professionals and institutions, and drug and medical equipment manufacturers, may be the result, in large part, of a widely held impression--often encouraged by members of the health professions and industries themselves--that medicine has unlimited powers to heal. Dr. Cooper suggests that those involved in providing health care services and products--and members of the legal profession-have a responsibility to inform the public that this expectation is unrealistic and that everyone suffers when the number of such lawsuits and the size of damage awards are excessive.