[mywittyname]

Patients normally sue a hospital system though. My partner has been involved in dozens of malpractice lawsuits over the years because every person who interacted with the patient during their stay is named in the lawsuit, not just the doctor(s) who treat them.

Hospitals have staff lawyers whose job it is to deal with lawsuits. So it's not terribly time-consuming for doctors outside of depositions.

It's safe to say that this is one of the reasons that doctors move from private practice into working in a hospital system. But it's also not a major one (dealing with insurance companies is the major factor).

[todd8]

Hacker news readers may not realize that joint liability exists in many states. Under this doctrine, the plaintiff can collect all awarded damages from even very peripherally involved people. A person with deep pockets can end up paying for others mistakes.

For example, a plaintif’s attorney might drag everyone into a lawsuit they can over a disappointing surgical result. The jury could be persuaded that an operating room nurse is 1% liable for a failed operation and the surgeon 99% responsible. If the surgeon can’t pay their part of a two million dollar judgement (brand new doctor perhaps) the nurse may end up paying the two million (maybe the nurse is married to a software engineer).