Back Pain, Lumbar Surgery and Litigation: A Brief Overview
Low back pain is one of the most common symptoms a physician encounters in the general patient population. Low back pain occurs at least once in 85% of the population aged 50 or less and is the fourth most common complaint in outpatient medicine. The medical costs associated with low back pain are surpassed only by those associated with cancer and heart disease. As a result of its ubiquity, the diagnosis and treatment of low back pain is frequently associated with litigation.