The Ecology of Defensive Medicine and Malpractice Litigation.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Antoci A
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4794151 | biostudies-literature | 2016
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
The Ecology of Defensive Medicine and Malpractice Litigation.
Antoci Angelo A Fiori Maccioni Alessandro A Russu Paolo P
PloS one 20160316 3
Using an evolutionary game, we show that patients and physicians can interact with predator-prey relationships. Litigious patients who seek compensation are the 'predators' and physicians are their 'prey'. Physicians can adapt to the risk of being sued by performing defensive medicine. We find that improvements in clinical safety can increase the share of litigious patients and leave unchanged the share of physicians who perform defensive medicine. This paradoxical result is consistent with incr ...[more]
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