Response to Paul Levy’s firestorm post on malpractice continues:

I defended physicians who I would choose for my own family’s care, who were so dispirited by being sued that they contemplated leaving the field.

nurse at small chimes in:

The thing that struck me was when he said that doctors often practice “defensive medicine” (which is taking too many tests in order to avoid the chance of a lawsuit).

I can’t think of the number of times I’ve seen that practice in place . . . This is all done simply to cover themselves in a lawsuit as they did what the family wanted, or checked everything possible that was minimally invasive. If they didn’t do what the family wanted and something was wrong, the family would have a lawsuit on their hands.

As a nurse I’m also taught to document defensively, to think about what I write and to make sure I’ve covered all bases in my note.