| 3/25/2004) - The Wall Street Journal reports that physicians nationwide are requiring their patients to sign forms and waivers agreeing not to sue and some doctors are threatening countersuits as a deterrent (“Doctors Take the Offensive,” March 23, 2023). The article reports that doctors blame their rising med-mal insurance premiums on “frivolous” lawsuits and are turning to a number of aggressive tactics even registering with a web database called DoctorsKnow.Us, which tracked victims of medical mistakes who were plaintiffs in lawsuits. The web site has since voluntarily shut down after patients, trial lawyers and consumer advocates objected to the service. The article quotes Joanne Doroshow, executive director of the Center for Justice & Democracy, who says that doctors are ooverreacting. “It makes absolutely no sense that physicians are taking this hard-line approach because absolutely nobody is benefiting except for the insurance companies,” Doroshow said. |