The idea that doctors order unnecessary tests to avoid being sued has enough surface plausibility that people nod "of course" as if it's undeniable truth. The "fraud" of "defensive medicine" is two fold: It doesn't really happen, at least not that anyone has ever proven, and even if it did happen, it would mean that doctors were committing fraud -- insurance fraud by ordering tests to protect their own rear ends and not to benefit the patient.

This is back in the news because the new Republican leadership of the House of Representatives wants to hold hearings about how cutting back on patients' rights to sue for redress when they've suffered preventable injuries from medical malpractice will allegedly improve the budget deficit. Joanne Doroshow of the Center for Justice and Democracy has a new column in the Huffington Post that takes on this issue.