Malpractice

In 1991, the Institute of Medicine released a landmark report, which revealed that as many as 98,000 patients were dying every year owing to avoidable medical error. More recent research indicates that estimate was, if anything, a drastic understatement of the patient-safety epidemic in the US health care system.In Malpractice, neurosurgeon and attorney Dr. Larry Schlachter makes a case that most patients enter the system without any idea of the risks they face, due to a medical culture that denies there is a patient safety problem. He argues that medical culture actively avoids transparency, perpetuates an atmosphere of blind deference to doctors, and protects dangerous doctors from any accountability.Drawing on 23 years of experience, Dr. Schlachter provides unbelievable stories that illustrate the host of risks patients face whenever they seek diagnostic evaluation or go under the knife. This book provides an all-access pass to the inner sanctums of the health care citadel, exposing the cultural flaws that fuel doctor’s egos and outlining the steps every patent should take to protect himself or herself.

"Malpractice is an honest view of what our broken health-care system looks like. We lost our only child to preventable death because the system allowed an incompetent surgeon to practice. Dr. Schlachter analyzes the challenges facing patients and caregivers in a way health-care consumers and professionals alike can learn from."—Patricia J. Skolnik, President, Citizens for Patient Safety, LLC"Malpractice will not make Dr. Schlachter many friends in the health-care industry, but it starts a conversation we must have if patient safety is truly our goal. We need more doctors like him—professionals willing to acknowledge the risks created by a medical culture that puts doctors ahead of patients, and willing to fight for meaningful changes that will lead to better outcomes for patients and providers alike.”—Dr. Marty Makary, Johns Hopkins surgeon, patient-safety advocate, and author of Unaccountable: What Hospitals Won't Tell You and How Transparency Can Revolutionize Health Care“Dr. Schlachter brings the same insight and honesty to Malpractice that he brings to examining cases in which patients have been terribly wronged. His astute analysis is a bitter pill for an industry that for many years has avoided the hardest conversations about patient safety, but it is perhaps the only prescription that can save us.”—Dr. Michael Dogali, MDCM, FACS, president of Pacific Neurosurgery“A surgeon-turned-lawyer’s thoughtful and passionate plea for a more transparent and accountable medical profession. Lawrence Schlachter demonstrates how a medical culture of denial and secrecy prevents patients from identifying even the most serious medical mistakes, and how feeble professional discipline allows even the most incompetent physicians to continue to harm. Contrasting arguments for tort reform with the reality of America’s continuing plague of medical error, Schlachter makes a strong case for malpractice litigation—with all its flaws—as the only recourse for severely harmed patients.”—David Goldhill, board member of The Leapfrog Group and author of Catastrophic Care: Why Everything We Think We Know about Health Care Is Wrong, "Malpractice is an honest view of what our broken health-care system looks like. We lost our only child to preventable death because the system allowed an incompetent surgeon to practice. Dr. Schlachter analyzes the challenges facing patients and caregivers in a way health-care consumers and professionals alike can learn from."—Patricia J. Skolnik, President, Citizens for Patient Safety, LLC"Malpractice will not make Dr. Schlachter many friends in the health-care industry, but it starts a conversation we must have if patient safety is truly our goal. We need more doctors like him—professionals willing to acknowledge the risks created by a medical culture that puts doctors ahead of patients, and willing to fight for meaningful changes that will lead to better outcomes for patients and providers alike.”—Dr. Marty Makary, Johns Hopkins surgeon, patient-safety advocate, and author of Unaccountable: What Hospitals Won't Tell You and How Transparency Can Revolutionize Health Care“Dr. Schlachter brings the same insight and honesty to Malpractice that he brings to examining cases in which patients have been terribly wronged. His astute analysis is a bitter pill for an industry that for many years has avoided the hardest conversations about patient safety, but it is perhaps the only prescription that can save us.”—Dr. Michael Dogali, MDCM, FACS, president of Pacific Neurosurgery“A surgeon-turned-lawyer’s thoughtful and passionate plea for a more transparent and accountable medical profession. Lawrence Schlachter demonstrates how a medical culture of denial and secrecy prevents patients from identifying even the most serious medical mistakes, and how feeble professional discipline allows even the most incompetent physicians to continue to harm. Contrasting arguments for tort reform with the reality of America’s continuing plague of medical error, Schlachter makes a strong case for malpractice litigation—with all its flaws—as the only recourse for severely harmed patients.”—David Goldhill, board member of The Leapfrog Group and author of Catastrophic Care: Why Everything We Think We Know about Health Care Is Wrong

Lawrence Schlachter, DDS, MD, JD, is a board-certified neurosurgeon and attorney. He lives with his family in Roswell, Georgia.