Focus on patient safety to address malpractice crisis.

McLarty: Focus on patient safety to address malpractice crisis.

In an opinion piece published on the CNN (10/12) website, Mary Alice McLarty, president of the American Association for Justice and a partner in McLarty Pope LLP in Dallas, writes that "preventable medical errors are the sixth leading cause of death in the United States and cost our country $29 billion a year," adding that while medical malpractice lawsuits are a symptom of the problem, the root of the problem is medical malpractice itself. Writing that "the civil justice system gives families of patients who have died or have been injured by medical negligence an avenue to seek accountability," McLarty argues that proposals for medical malpractice reform are misguided because they only strip away patients' rights and remove accountability. She argues that the most effective way to address the medical malpractice crisis is to focus on patient safety efforts