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Delays in medical malpractice litigation in civil law jurisdictions: some evidence from the Italian Court of Cassation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2013

Veronica Grembi  and
Nuno Garoupa
Veronica Grembi
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, Catholic University of Milan
Nuno Garoupa*
Affiliation:
Professor of Law, University of Illinois College of Law, Champaign, IL, USA
*
*Correspondence to: Professor Nuno Garoupa, University of Illinois College of Law, 504 E Pennsylvania Avenue, Champaign, IL 61820, USA. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Medical malpractice law and tort reform are contentious issues. In this paper, we focus on Italy as an example of a civil law jurisdiction. Italian medical malpractice law is essentially judge-made law. However, its effectiveness is likely to be curtailed by excessive delays in litigation. Several reforms have been enacted since the late 1980s to correct this situation. By making use of the decisions of the Italian Court of Cassation (which have shaped medical malpractice law) from 1970 to 2009, we show that these reforms had no general statistically significant impact on delays. Recent reduction of delays does not seem to be related to legal reforms but rather explained by other factors.

Type
Articles
Information
Health Economics, Policy and Law , Volume 8 , Issue 4 , October 2013 , pp. 423 - 452
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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