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Physician-Patient Arbitration Agreements: Procedural Safeguards May Not Be Enough - Buraczynski V. Eyring, Jennifer Gillespie

Journal of Dispute Resolution

Insurance companies and physicians increasingly are requiring medical malpractice claims to be settled by arbitration.2 As a result, many patients are being presented with a new choice when they enter their doctor's office: Sign an arbitration agreement or forgo treatment with their physician. In Buraczynski v. Eyring, the physician required the patients to sign an arbitration agreement prior to performing medical services for them? The agreement contained provisions designed to ensure that the patient made an informed decision before consenting to the agreement.4 But what if there were no other doctors available if the patient chose not to sign?