“The vast majority of US neurosurgeons participate in some form of defensive medicine,” said Timothy Smith from Northwestern University in the US. For the study, the researchers sent a questionnaire regarding defensive medicine to 3,344 neurosurgeons.
While more than 80 percent of surgeons said they had ordered imaging tests solely for defensive reasons, more than three-fourths reported ordering laboratory tests and making extra referrals for defensive purposes. Up to half said they ordered more medications and procedures out of fear of being sued. Nearly one-fourth had stopped performing brain surgery for fear of being sued. The findings appeared in the journal Neurosurgery. (IANS)