Looking for Proof Tort Reform Reduces Health Costs?... Keep looking... Part V

During the height of the debate over the health care bill, there were a number of studies and reports published that documented how tort reform efforts would not lower health costs. For links to those articles go here, here, here and here. Lawsuits.com is now reporting on a new study from the Harvard School of Public Health, published in the September issue of the journal Health Affairs, that finds that the combined costs of medical malpractice and so-called defensive medicine make up only 2.4% of the total costs of health care in the United States. The study found that attempting to reduce the number of medical malpractice lawsuits would result in only a negligible effect on the cost of health care, and reducing the cost of defensive medicine would do little more. Go here for the full story. UPDATE 9-10-10: The PopTort has a comment on the study here.