The reactions to our disclosure study are forceful in their dismissal of it but short on specific concerns with the analysis. Apart from skepticism about the survey data embedded in our model, no methodological issue is mentioned. The critiques appear to have no quarrel with the basic epidemiology of medical injuries and claims, which, contrary to the assertion by John Wakefield and colleagues, is reasonably well understood. (At least a half-million patients sustain severe medical injuries in the United States annually, one-quarter of them due to negligent care, and these injuries give rise to approximately 50,000 malpractice claims.) Also uncontested is the foundation of our analytical model, disclosure's dual impact: While deterring some patients from suing, or encouraging them to settle more quickly and for less, disclosure will also prompt some proportion of patients who would not otherwise have sued to do so. The latter effect is particularly likely for patients whose injury is due to negligence and who would not have recognized this in the absence of the disclosure.
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