Web Access To Medical Malpractice Settlements

If you are pondering the pros and cons of internet access to information regarding medical malpractice settlements (and have 20 minutes to spare) read the scholarly article posted at Red Orbit:

Redefining the Physician Selection Process and Rewriting Medical Malpractice Settlement Disclosure Webpages

By Brown, Matthew E

Every state provides publicly accessible physician profiles via the Internet.

Despite shortcomings in both the policy underlying settlement disclosure and the mechanisms by which settlement information is disseminated to the public, physician malpractice settlement disclosure webpages continue to proliferate, with many states either enacting new legislation or amending their existing physician profile statutes to include settlement information.156

Rather than simply enacting legislation that appeases advocates and opponents of disclosure by instituting various filter mechanisms, such as dense disclaimers, time and informational conditions, and misleading settlement presentation, legislators should reconsider the public policy underlying settlement disclosure. Subsequent legislation should only result if, through the deliberative political process, the public policy of settlement disclosure is determined sound in light of the observations set forth by others and this article, and the concerns raised by opponents and this article are successfully addressed.

I come down in favor of web access but understand the need for consistency and fair explanatory wording.