A frivolous lawsuit costs the patient (or patient's lawyer) a lot. Hospitals get sued all the time and they have an entire legal department staffed and ready to handle subpoenas.

You still have to prove damages. Which means getting treatment from another hospital for whatever mistake was made, then proving that the mistake was caused by the treatment you received at another hospital.

As stated elsewhere, my partner has been named in dozens of malpractice lawsuits and every one she was deposed for she felt was legitimate. There were a few where she told me privately that she hopes the people win.

That part is incorrect; however, the overall message of the post is correct. In a for-profit system, it's the patient's only recourse. Don't like it? Fight against for-profit healthcare.

>> No, the patient can sue for whatever reason they want to.

Check your rules of civil procedure. Patients cannot just invent reasons to sue. The case must hit several benchmarks before a doctor ever has to respond, let alone be deposed. Dismissal for failure to state a claim deals with the truly junk lawsuits.