As a critical examination of the pervasive tension existing between defensive medicine and good, ethical patient care, this book investigates the impact of legalities on medical treatment. Physicians today are apprehensive about the threat of malpractice suits. Kapp explores the extent to which this fear is justified. He examines where physicians get their ideas about what the law forbids and requires, how physicians' perceptions of the law and medicine affect medical care, and whether these behavioral manifestations benefit or hurt a physician's ability to practice ethically. Kapp then suggests ways medical professionals can resolve tension caused by conflicting demands and encourage more ethical care.

MARSHALL B. KAPP is Professor in the Departments of Community Health and Psychiatry and Director of the Office of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology at Wright State University School of Medicine. He is a member of the adjunct faculty at the University of Dayton School of Law and is editor of the Journal of Ethics, Law, and Aging. He is the author of numerous books, including Geriatrics and the Law (Second edition, 1992) and Preventing Malpractice in Long Term Care (1987).

Preface
Losing at the Lottery: Physician Perceptions of the Legal Environment
The Lawyer Made Me Do It: From Legal Perception to Medical Practice
Risk Managers and Legal Counsel: Ethical Enablers or Paid Paranoids?
Doing Everything: Treating Legal Fears Near the End of Life
Who is Responsible for This? Everyday Patient Intrusions to Protect the Provider
'A Dispirited Lot': Malpractice and What Else?
Reconciling Risk Management and Medical Ethics: Opportunities and Obstacles