The problem of professional in-hospital liability varies from state to state and from hospital to hospital due to variations in the law; the attitudes of the people of the community; the organization and operation of hospitals; the attitudes, training, and qualifications of doctors on hospital medical staffs; and other factors. There can be little doubt, however, that hospitals and doctors on hospital medical staffs everywhere are faced with this serious problem.
There also can be little doubt that the problem is increasing in volume, as can be measured by an increasing number of claims and suits against hospitals and doctors in many areas of the United States. (In one large hospital in a metropolitan area, the number of suits brought against the hospital averaged one each month for a period of 10 years up to and including 1957. In 1958, however, the number doubled to an average of two each