Uninformed verdicts in medical malpractice lawsuits and the rising cost of medical malpractice insurance are believed to contribute to the high cost of medical care. This is because they force doctors to practice defensive medicine by ordering additional tests and procedures to protect themselves in the event of a lawsuit. The amount spent on these precautions, legal fees, compensation claims, and unlimited damages is also reflected in the increased cost of medical care that the intern is passed on to patients. Today, patients are becoming more litigious because there are many lawyers luring you, with advertisements geared towards medical malpractice lawsuits. In most cases, malpractice lawsuits consist of falsified allegations, seen by most people as an abuse of the system. In addition to these embarrassing lawsuits, plaintiffs are awarded large sums of money in damages because there are no limits on court awards. The increase in medical malpractice lawsuits has affected the healthcare system due to carriage damage settlements paid by doctors, which increases the rate of medical malpractice insurance. In this case, malpractice refers to negligence or misconduct on the part of a healthcare provider such as a doctor. Failure to comply with a standard of care or conduct recognized by this profession rises to the level of negligence when a patient is injured as a result of a mistake made. For example, doctors are less friendly to patients for fear of being sued for malpractice, forcing patients to be less forthcoming in providing certain information that could prevent treatment errors. “Hospitals and doctors' offices, hoping to curb medical errors, have invested heavily in putting computers, smartphones and other devices in ...... middle of paper ...... eliminated by healthcare workers and pushing them to reconsider the possibility of giving an immediate diagnosis which leads to excessive use of defensive medicine. If the level of doctor-patient communication were higher, it would leave less room for error and more room for success in the medical facility. If the risk of negligence were not so great, the level of care and empathy would increase in the healthcare sector. Work Cited Washington Times, November 29, 2009: No3. Defensive medicine costs; Litigation-inspired tests hinder necessary ones. The Washington Times. Network. Retrieved 6 March 2012. Gale Opposing Viewpoints in Context. The New York Times, March 11, 2011. Medicaid and the New York Budget: A Bad Deal on Malpractice. The New York Times Company. Network. Retrieved March 8, 2012. Chen, P. W, December 20, 2011. “Good; Once reported, many are twice shy.” The New York Times, web. Retrieved March 8. 2012.