Medical Malpractice in Tort Law: Ordinary Negligence and Recklessness [No. 86]

Medical malpractice cases that involve recklessness are usually straightforward. Ordinary negligence, however, can be more difficult to prove and resolve. Professor Richard Epstein explains that the traditional standard in these cases was simply to verify if the medical practitioner was qualified and practicing in accordance with customary precautions. The more modern approach to these negligence cases is to perform a cost-benefit analysis which is much more complicated and costly, and often without a clear resolution.

Professor Richard Epstein is the inaugural Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law at NYU School of Law, a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, and Professor of Law Emeritus and a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago.

As always, the Federalist Society takes no position on particular legal or public policy issues; all expressions of opinion are those of the speaker.

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