Closing Death's Door

Robert L. Rabin, JURIMETRICS: The Journal of Law, Science, and Technology Closing Death's Door merits high praise... Drawing on empirical evidence and illustrative case studies, the authors provide a highly nuanced agenda-sensitive to political and cultural considerations-for imple-menting regulatory reforms in this critical area of public health.

Saks and Landsman have written the definitive synthesis of the empirical and theoretical literatures on medical malpractice liability and patient safety, and have done so in delightful prose and using examples that will all readers will find engaging. Time for the rest of us who toil in these fields to move on to other things."-Charles Silver, Roy W. and Eugenia C. McDonald Endowed Chair in Civil Procedure, School of Law, University of Texas at Austin


This book is a must read for anyone seriously interested in patient safety. They put to rest the false claim that medical malpractice reform holds out any promise for patient safety, and they explain how to lay the groundwork for reforms that would reduce the harm to patients." Tom Baker, William Maul Measey Professor of Law and Health Sciences, University of Pennsylvania and author of The Medical Malpractice Myth.

Michael Saks is a Regents' Professor in the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law and Department of Psychology at Arizona State University. He is also a faculty fellow with the Center for Law, Science and Innovation at ASU. His research interests focus on empirical studies of law and the legal system, especially decision-making in the legal process, evidence law, the law's use of science, the behavior of the litigation system, and legal policy affecting medical patient safety. Stephan Landsman is Emeritus Professor of Law and Organizer and Director of the Clifford Symposium on Tort Law and Social Policy at the DePaul University College of Law. He is a nationally renowned expert on the civil jury system, and through his ongoing study of the American jury has become a leader in applying social science methods to legal problems.

Chapter 1. Introduction Chapter 2. Nightmare in Dallas-The Ebola Case: A Medical Error Paradigm Chapter 3. IOM and Public Disclosure of the Error Problem - To Err is Human Chapter 4. Injury Incidence: The Scope of the Problem Chapter 5. The Medical Malpractice Litigation System Chapter 6. Meditations on Medical Torts Chapter 7. Defensive Medicine: A Response to the Legal Response? Chapter 8. Error Reporting: A Flawed Panacea Chapter 9. Legal Innovations to Promote Patient Safety-An Introduction Chapter 10. Incentives-Good, Bad, and Perverse Chapter 11. Systems, Errors, and Responsibility-It's the System's Fault! Chapter 12. Regulation and Engaged Surveillance Chapter 13. Information Technology Epilogue