The medical liability crisis of 2003: must we squander the chance to put patients first?

Medical liability reform should be aligned with a patient-centered, systems-based approach to preventing injury. Lessons learned about medical risk are now buried by the legal system, and communication about risk is haphazard among health care providers and across the interfaces of our legal, regulatory, and health care systems. Tort reform can be a vehicle for breaking down systemic barriers. Proposed reforms include (1) requiring disclosure of medical errors and restricting the use of information disclosed as evidence of guilt; (2) outlawing confidentiality agreements when malpractice cases are settled; (3) abolishing the National Practitioner Data Bank; and (4) establishing a national patient safety authority.