Law Commons^™

Overtreatment And Informed Consent: A Fraud-Based Solution To Unwanted And Unnecessary Care, Isaac D. Buck

Florida State University Law Review

According to multiple accounts, the administration of American health care results in as much as $800 billion in wasted spending due largely to the provision of overly expensive, inefficient, and unnecessary services. Beyond inflicting fiscal pain on the nation’s pocketbook, this waste has no clinical benefit—and often results in unnecessary hospital stays, cascading follow-up procedures, and time-wasting inconvenience for American patients. But aside from the mere annoyance of unnecessary care, the administration of overtreatment—that is, unnecessary care in and of itself—causes harm to the patient. Excessive care is deficient care. Unnecessary care risks potential medical error and infection, and often …