By: James D. Campbell -- Tucson Medical Malpractice Attorney

The average Joe sitting in his armchair thinks that medical malpractice cases are a problem. There are too many of them and doctors can't practice medicine because insurance costs are driving them out of the business. I AM HERE TO TELL YOU THIS IS NOT THE TRUTH.

It is really difficult to prove a medical malpractice case. Before a medical malpractice case can get to first base, a doctor of the same type as the defendant doctor must be willing to testify that his brother doctor acted unreasonably. It is not easy to find a doctor to do this. Many, many doctor refuse to get involved in cases against other doctors. Before a lawyer can find one qualified doctor to testify against another doctor, he or she will have to invest many hours on the computer researching doctors and additional hours on the phone calling doctors to see if they will even review the medical records to see if there was malpractice.

Certainly no Tucson doctor is going to testify against another Tucson doctor. In fact, usually, no Arizona doctor will testify in a malpractice case against another Arizona doctor. The patient must seek out doctors from other states to come to Arizona to testify in a malpractice case.

Then, if a lawyer gets fortunate, and an out of state doctor agrees to testify against an Arizona doctor, then the lawyer and his client must go do battle with the insurance company for the doctor. The doctor's insurance company has near limitless resources. It, unlike an individual injured person, takes a very long range view of malpractice cases. It long range plan is to make proving malpractice cases as hard as possible, so that lawyers will think two, three and four times before agreeing to take on a case. So, while your client has been injured and simply wants justice, the insurance company is already looking past this case to the next 100.

Finally, if a medical malpractice case goes to trial, the doctor wins well over 90 percent of the time. There are a lot of reason for this, but the main one is that juries find it very hard to fault a doctor. Jurors grew up respecting and trusting doctors. This built in bias makes the playing field not level for the injured person. The injured patient has a very hard time convincing that the doctor made a mistake, and caused his harm. So, while the law only requires that it be shown that the doctor acted unreasonably, the reality is different. In reality, to prove a malpractice case, an in injured person must not only prove that the doctor was negligent, but was very negligent. While this is not the law, this is the reality of what most juries require before they will compensate an injured patient.

Because of this, the filings of medical malpractice cases in Arizona has fallen over 40% in the last few years. THAT'S RIGHT. MEDICAL MALPRACTICE CASES ARE DECLINING, NOT INCREASING.

As a result of all of the above, only very few medical malpractice cases are ever filed. As I lawyer, I get contacted at least 5 times a week about a new potential case. Because I know how hard it is for my client to prevail in a Tucson medical malpractice case, I take less than 1 out of 50 cases. So, you can be guaranteed the 1 case that is filed, is a really strong case where the doctor made a serious mistake, and that mistake caused grievous injury or death to the patient. I am not unique in this view, as most Tucson and Arizona medical malpractice lawyers are equally careful about the cases they pursue.

So, the next time you hear about the "medical malpractice crisis," you know this simply is not the truth. Don't let any lobby for the doctor's insurance company take away YOUR rights to fair compensation if you are injured by the malpractice of a doctor.

If you have been injured as a result of the medical malpractice of a Tucson or Arizona doctor, please feel free to contact me. I have the experience in handling serious medical malpractice cases, and I understand how difficult it can be to make a claim against a doctor that you trusted with your care. The consultation is free.

By: James D. Campbell -- Tucson Medical Malpractice Attorney