Insurance costs put doctors on defensive
Between 2008 and 2017 the number of medical claims against Medical Protection Society members increased 57%
In the past few years, SA has seen a boom in malpractice claims, for which doctors are now paying the price. Annual premiums for malpractice indemnity insurance have risen, in some cases, to almost R1m a year. Doctors, particularly obstetricians, who were paying up to R250,000 a year four years ago in malpractice premiums, are now paying about R900,000 as a result of the escalation in malpractice claims. "So what we are saying is that before you have earned a cent in your pocket to pay for your staff or your surgery or your water and lights or your children's school fees, you've got to earn R1m to cover your insurance," said Justin Malherbe, a health-care and insurance lawyer at Norton Rose Fulbright. "What makes that so significant is it jumping up in the last four years from R250,000 to R330,000 to R650,000 to R850,000 and now just approaching R1m. That is scary." Another result of the increase in litigation is that doctors have been practising defensive medicine - they prescribe ...
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