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Preemptive Protection Against Frivilous Malpractice Lawsuits:: Deterring Meritless Cases And Holding Proponents Of Those Cases Accountable
Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD, FACS
2010-03-03
Presenter: Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD, FACS
Affidavit:
Director Name:
Author Category: Physician in Practice
Presentation Category: Basic Science Research
Abstract Category: General Reconstruction
A Harvard analysis indicates about 40% of the medical malpractice cases filed in the United States are groundless. These groundless lawsuits accounted for 15% of the money paid out in settlements or verdicts.
AMA Analysis estimates that there are 125,000 open cases at any one moment.
Average defense costs were over $94K per claim in cases where the defendant prevailed at trial. In addition, in cases where the claim was dropped or dismissed, costs to defendants averaged nearly $19K.
In 75 of the largest US counties, approximately 67% of all malpractice trials were against surgeons. The great majority of claims against plastic surgeons are concentrated in <10 procedures, all of them elective or aesthetic. One-third of board-certified plastic surgeons face a medical malpractice claim every year.
Meritless litigation is a burden on US healthcare. It is expensive for the system as a whole and it is stressful for the individual practitioner.
Since 2002, Medical Justice advocates for a high level of integrity in the arena of professional liability. Medical Justice believes that the current professional liability paradigm is inefficient and serves doctors and patients poorly. Medical professional liability in the United States, as measured by total premiums paid by physicians and healthcare facilities, costs approximately $30B a year in direct expenses, less than 2% of the entire annual healthcare expenditures. Only a fraction of those dollars reach patients who are negligently injured. Medical malpractice litigation is pervasive and physicians practice defensively to avoid being named in a suit.
