Lawsuits

A study in the August 2011 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine looked at lifetime risk for malpractice lawsuits. Researchers used a national insurer's records from 1991 to 2005 and found a surprisingly high rate of lawsuits. Neurosurgeons and cardiovascular surgeons had the highest annual risk for lawsuit, almost 20%, whereas psychiatrists and pediatricians had the lowest annual risk, less than 5%. By age 45, 36% of doctors in low-risk specialties and 88% in high risk specialties had faced their first claims; by age 65, low-risk doctors had a 75% risk and high-risk doctors had a 99% risk of lawsuit. Of these, only 22% of lawsuits resulted in payments to claimants.

This explains why "defensive medicine" is so pervasive. Being sued for malpractice is an inevitability, and so the practice of medicine is pressured by forces other than what is right for the patient. It also points to the widespread belief among doctors that legal action against doctors needs to be curtailed. Only a fifth of lawsuits result in a payout, suggesting that most lawsuits do not involve malpractice and may unnecessarily drive up the cost of medicine. Whether through caps on maximum payouts or through expert court panels or through other methods, reining in the number or impact of lawsuits may benefit society overall in the long run.