Some Light on Malpractice Claims

Some Light on Malpractice Claims

It is amazing how many times we hear “I want a malpractice free doctor”. This statement often baffles our panel. How does one correlate a malpractice free physician with being a good doctor? More importantly why with our U.S. physician shortage are employers demanding that physicians be malpractice free? We must assume they are not aware of the medical-legal environment of the U.S. Hopefully with some informative persuading we can change this perception.

A Brief Look.

In our research, we have found that being sued for medical malpractice has increasingly become part of practicing medicine. While it is very difficult to find accurate statistics on the frequency of medical malpractice lawsuits, we discovered that one lawsuit is filed for every 2.5 practicing obstetricians, neurosurgeons, and orthopedists. Moreover, nearly one malpractice suit is filed for every five physicians per year..

It is estimated that approximately 40 percent of all physicians and over 50 percent of obstetricians, gynecologists, and surgeons experience at least one malpractice claim in their career. The risk is real and applies to physicians in all specialties and all types of practice settings. “There are physician shortages in many regions and specialties, including family physicians, and that evidence exists for additional shortages in the future”.
- AMA September 29, 2006We found that only a small percentage of cases actually go to a jury trial. The vast majority are dismissed or settled. Many physicians believe the problem is resolved once a lawsuit is settled. On some occasions, often to the surprise of the physician, further action is required after either a settlement or a jury verdict.

It is predicted that the U.S. will be short 200,000 physicians by the year 2020 (Council on Physician and Nurse Supply). Even Bank of America donated $5 million dollars to boost the Massachusetts supply of primary care doctors. This donation was only expected to increase the supply by 50 PCP. In addition, more than ½ of the 850,000 physicians practicing in 2006 were over 45. At least 300,000 will retire within the next 13 years” (Weber DO “Missing Physicians, part 2” Hospitals and Health Networks, March 5, 2007).

In conclusion, the apparent shortage of physicians combined with litigenous U.S. healthcare environment poses a big problem when demanding a “malpractice free physician”. It simply does not make sense to equate a physician with a malpractice claim would equal an under qualified physician.

- Onyx M.D. Physician Panel

References
1. Anderson RE. Outcomes of medical-malpractice litigation [correspondence]. N Engl J Med. 1997;336:1680-1.
2. Gonzalez ME, ed. Trends in physicians’ professional liability claims and insurance premiums. In: Socioeconomic Characteristics of Medical Practice. Chicago: American Medical Association; 1992.

• Nearly 50% of malpractice trials were against surgeons in 75 of the largest counties in the US 2001
  (Bureau of Justice Statistics)
• Nearly 33% of malpractice trials were against non surgeons in 75 of the largest counties in the US 2001
  (Bureau of Justice Statistics)
• Plaintiffs won 27% of medical malpractice cases in 75 of the largest counties in the US 2001
  (Bureau of Justice Statistics)
• 18,999 medical malpractice payment reports were made in the US 2002
  (2002 Annual Report, National Practitioner Data Bank, US DHHS)

• Estimated 25% of practicing physicians sued annually (When Good Doctors Get Sued, 2001)
• Estimated 50-65% physicians sued at least once during their career (When Good Doctors Get Sued, 2001)
• 80.4% of medical malpractice payment reports were against physicians in the US 2002
  (2002 Annual Report, National Practitioner Data Bank, US DHHS)

• 191,804 medical malpractice reports were made to the National Practitioner Databank regarding physicians in the US 1990-2004
  (NPDB Summary Report, National Practitioner Data Bank, US DHHS)

• 1,530 medical malpractice reports were made to the National Practitioner Databank regarding resident or intern physician in the US 1990-2004 (NPDB Summary Report, National Practitioner Data Bank, US DHHS)