Clinical negligence in the UK: Throwing the baby out with the bath water

Abstract

As the total cost of clinical negligence claims has grown in the UK in recent years, calls for reform have resurfaced. The government now plans a White Paper on the subject next year. This paper assesses some of the economic arguments surrounding such reform. It suggests that the principle of negligence performs a useful economic function, that there is some uncertainty surrounding the precise costs of the UK's clinical negligence, and that costs of alternative systems may sometimes be larger than they first appear.

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