There are over 25k new malware samples coming out daily, and everybody is just trying to cut through them as fast and efficiently as possible. Yes there are innocent casualties of this -- False positives -- but these are sincere mistakes .
False positives are very embarrassing for the security company. It is something that can even cause people their jobs. Don't you think for a second that these are not looked at.
I make malware definitions for a living, and you can trust me when I say that I check the FP reports first thing every morning, several times during the work day, & I check our forums every night at home to make sure we don't have any FP's rolling in.
At most security software companies, FP's taken very seriously & I know that personally I would love to be able to educate Indie developers about what triggers detections and ways we can both work together to reduce them. It's easier said then done, however, and also it is delicate info that you don't really want to yell off the rooftops - because malware creators could really use the same info to their advantage.