Decision Analysis and Medical Malpractice

Abstract

Normative decision theory has been applied to the problem of evaluating alternative diagnosis-treatment strategies. The courts rely upon a different set of doctrine in performing the same sort of evaluation. The paper investigates the differences. It is suggested that the alleged 'malpractice crisis' results largely from the application of a set of ambiguous and mutually inconsistent medico-legal principles such as 'reasonable medical certainty,' 'standards of good medical practice in the community,' and 'proximate cause.' The expected utility criterion of decision analysis is proposed as an alternative to this melange, both for the purposes of establishing the existence of negligence and for determining the proper amount of compensation.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 01, 1972
Accession Number
AD0744193

Entities

People

  • Brian E. Forst

Organizations

  • Center for Naval Analyses

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Business Administration
  • Communities
  • Compensation
  • Differential Equations
  • Doctrine
  • Employment
  • Health Care
  • Health Services
  • International Organizations
  • Medical Malpractice
  • Medical Personnel
  • Operations Research
  • Personnel Management
  • Physicians
  • Probability
  • Standards
  • Therapy

Readers

  • Educational Psychology
  • Medical or Health Care Field.
  • Theoretical Analysis.