A survey suggests that the public thinks so:
About 52% of respondents said physicians overtreat patients because of concerns about medical malpractice lawsuits, 45% said “to make more money” and 44% said “to meet patient demands,” the survey found.
My quick estimates of the reasons why physicians overorder tests would be 70-80% due to defensive medicine, 20-30% due to patient demand – although there is overlap here with defensive medicine – and 5-15% because of financial incentive. (via The Antidote)
