29 Statistics on Medical Malpractice Payouts and Lawsuits

The following information is from Diederich Healthcare's "2013 Medical Malpractice Payout Analysis," which is based on data from the National Practitioner Data Bank. Figures reflect medical malpractice payouts and statistics for 2012.

Medical malpractice payouts
1. Dollars in payouts: $3.6 billion (3.4 percent less than in 2011)
2. Total payouts for medical malpractice: 12,142 (one every 43 minutes)
3. Payouts resulting from judgments: 5 percent
4. Payouts resulting from settlements: 93 percent

Payouts by patient type
5. Inpatient: 45 percent
6. Outpatient: 41 percent
7. Both: 9 percent

Top five states for medical malpractice payouts
8. New York: $763,088,250  
9. Pennsylvania: $316,167,500
10. California: $222,926,200
11. New Jersey: $206,668,250
12. Florida: $203,671,100

Severity of alleged injury in medical malpractice claims
13. Death: 31 percent
14. Significant permanent injury: 19 percent
15. Major permanent injury: 18 percent
16. Quadriplegic, brain damage, lifelong care: 12 percent
17. Minor permanent injury: 8 percent
18. Major temporary injury: 7 percent
19. Minor temporary injury: 3 percent
20. Emotional injury only: 1 percent
21. Insignificant injury: 0.4 percent

Types of allegations medical malpractice claims
22. Related to diagnosis: 33 percent
23. Related to surgery: 24 percent
24. Related to treatment: 18 percent
25. Related to obstetrics: 11 percent
26. Related to medication: 4 percent
27. Related to monitoring: 3 percent
28. Related to anesthesia: 3 percent
29. Other: 4 percent

More Articles on Medical Malpractice:

Study: Diagnostic Errors Represent Most Common, Costly Malpractice Claims
Study: Malpractice Claims Go Unresolved for 4 Years of Average Physician's Career
Top 10 Reasons Physicians Practice Defensive Medicine


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