Malpractice payouts vary widely by state
Findings spotlight flawed system
The average medical malpractice payment nationally was $262,727 from 1990 to 2006, according to a study of payments made in and out of court, including jury awards and settlements.1 Researchers queried surgery-related medical liability payments in the National Practitioner Data Bank.
Not surprisingly, the greatest factor when determining the size of surgical malpractice claims was patient outcome, according to study author Ryan Orosco, MD, an otolaryngology resident in the Department of Surgery at the University of California, San Diego Health System. “Payment size depends more on how the patient does than what actually led to that outcome,” he says.
However, the degree of state-to-state variation in payment size did surprise researchers. The states with the highest predicted payments were Illinois ($243,000), Connecticut ($236,000), and Delaware ($188,000), and the states with the lowest predicted payments were Michigan ($155,000), Kansas ($152,000) and South Carolina ($130,000).
“Many people agree that these findings highlight the flawed nature of our malpractice system,” says Orosco. “I hope that this research stimulates further investigation and brings an evidence-based perspective to the malpractice debate.”
Reference
- Orosco RK, Talamin J, Chang DC, et al. Surgical malpractice in the United States, 1990-2006. J Am Coll Surg. 2012; 215(4):480-488.
Source
For more information on medical malpractice payouts, contact:
- Ryan Orosco, MD, Department of Surgery, University of California, San Diego Health System. Email: [email protected].
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