Share this infographic on your site!

The Biggest, Most Disastrous Medical Malpractice Lawsuits Over the Years

Embed this infographic on your site!


The editors at Cheap Nurse Degrees decided to research the topic of:

The Biggest, Most Disastrous Medical Malpractice Lawsuits Over the Years

Landmark Malpractice Cases


- $31 million payout - unborn child starved of oxygen
- During the birth of her son, a young Florida woman was given too many drugs to stimulate labor, starving her unborn child of oxygen. The boy, Aaron Edwards, survived but has severe cerebral palsy. In 2012, the Florida House of Representatives panel approved the boy's $31 million claim, the largest payout in the state's history. [4, 5]

- $11 million payout - patient on life support dies from ingesting ketchup packets
- A 36 year-old man on life support from a traumatic brain injury was moved to an assisted living facility. He later died. During the autopsy, unopened ketchup packets, plastic bags and paper towels were found in his stomach and bowels. [6]

- $7.5 million malpractice suit - wrong heart valve bypassed
- In 1998, after a double bypass heart operation, actor Dana Carvey continued to have chest pains; he later discovered his surgeon had performed bypass surgery on the wrong artery. Carvey sued the San Francisco surgeon for $7.5 million. The case was settled out of court. [3]

- $5.6 million payout - screwdriver implanted instead of titanium rods
- Dr. Robert Ricketson used a screwdriver instead of titanium rods for patient Arturo Iturralde's back. The screwdriver snapped inside Iturralde, requiring additional surgeries. The patient died two years later, and his family was awarded $5.6 million in 2006. [3]

- $1.15 million payout - wrong leg amputated
- In 1995, Willie King, a 52-year-old diabetic from Florida, had the wrong leg amputated.
- - The attending surgeon was fined $10,000, and he lost his medical license for six months.
- - Hospital paid Mr. King $900,000.
- - Surgeon personally paid him $250,000. [6]

Medical Malpractice Myths


- Malpractice payments have a lesser impact on health care costs than widely believed. [7]
- The National Practitioner Data Bank reports that the average U.S. malpractice payment for 2008 was $326,000, the smallest average on record. [7]
- Americans for Insurance Reform reported that medical malpractice premiums amount to 0.5% of health care costs and medical malpractice premiums are one-fifth of 1% of health care costs. [7]
- The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) said the cost of defending claims and compensating victims of medical negligence in 2010 was $5.8 billion, or 0.3% of the $2.6 trillion spent on health care that year. [8]
- A 2010 Harvard School of Public Health study showed that the cost of medical malpractice in the U.S. is $55.6 billion per year, or 2.4% of the nation's total health care expenditure. [9]
- Of the $55.6 billion per year spent on medical malpractice, $45.6 billion was spent on defensive medicine by physicians wanting to avoid lawsuits. [9]
- There is little correlation between the total of medical malpractice payouts in a given state and medical malpractice premiums. [11]
- Three of the states with the highest malpractice payouts, including New York, had relatively average malpractice premium rates. [11]

States Put a Cap on Medical Malpractice Payouts

Nearly 30 states place a cap on non-economic damages (for unquantifiable losses like pain and suffering) in medical malpractice suits:


- California: $250,000
- Colorado: $250,000
- Kansas: $250,000
- Massachusetts: $500,000
- Texas: $250,000 per physician, $250,000 cap per institution up to $500,000
- Michigan: $280,000, adjusted annually for inflation (is raised in some severe cases up to $500,000)
- Maryland: $635,000 in 2003, raised $15,000 each year; in 2013, the total would be $785,000 [1, 10]
- Other states have ruled that a cap is unconstitutional including Alabama, Arizona, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Washington. [1]
- In State Farm Automobile Insurance vs. Campell, 538 U.S. 408 (2003), the United States Supreme Court ruled that the due process clause in the policy usually limits punitive damages to less than 10 times the size of the compensatory damages awarded. [2]

Malpractice Payout Stats


- The rise and fall of medical malpractice payouts
- - 1992 - $3.0 billion
- - 2003 - $4.8 billion
- - 2011 - $3.7 billion [10]
- In 2011, six states represented more than 50% of the total malpractice payouts that year: California, Florida, New Jersey, Illinois, Pennsylvania and New York. [10]
- In 2011, New York had the highest payout of any state at $677 million. This payout was more than double the state with the second highest payout, Pennsylvania. [10]
- In 2011, South Dakota had the lowest amount of payouts at $3 million. [10]
- In 2011, the highest average payout per claim was Hawaii at $686,509 per claim. Indiana had the lowest payout per claim at $122,297. [10]
- Patients aged 40 to 59 accounted for 36% of medical malpractice payouts in 2011, followed in descending order by patients from ages 20 to 39, 0 to 19 and 60 and over. [10]
- In 2011, 58% of the total medical malpractice payouts were to female patients. [10]
- Only 1 in 5 malpractice claims against doctors leads to a settlement or payout. [13]
- About 7.5% of doctors have a malpractice claim filed against them each year. [13]
- About 19% of neurosurgeons and heart surgeons are sued for medical malpractice annually. [13]
- Pediatric malpractice claims have an average payout of $520,000, while the average for other doctors is $275,000. [13]

The Ebb and Flow of Malpractice Premiums


- Dependent on a physician's specialty, medical malpractice premiums have fluctuated up and down since 1970. [12]
- Malpractice premium levels were at an all-time high in 1986. [12]
- Area: 1970 - 1986 - 1996 - 2000
- All physicians: 5,934 - 20,106 - 15,478 - 18,400
- Surgery: 8,313 - 33,458 - 23,820 - 23,600
- Ob/Gyn: 10,328 - 46,024 - 38,639 - 39,200
- Anesthesiology: N/A - 32,201 - 14,160 - 24,600

Sources


- [1] http://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/article/state-limits-on-medical-malpractice-awards.html
- [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Farm_v._Campbell
- [3] http://www.minyanville.com/slideshow/102/11
- [4] http://www.christophermellino.com/2012/04/landmark-victory-of-31-million-for-medical-malpractice-victims/
- [5] http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2012/jun/28/lee-memorial-medical-liability-insurance-policy/?print=1
- [6] http://blog.caringlawyers.com/2011/02/13_disturbing_cases_of_medical_1.html
- [7] http://blog.caringlawyers.com/medical_malpractice_reform/
- [8] http://www.justice.org/cps/rde/justice/hs.xsl/8686.htm
- [9] http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickungar/2010/09/07/the-true-cost-of-medical-malpractice-it-may-surprise-you/
- [10] http://www.physicianspractice.com/medical-malpractice-statistics-every-physician-should-know
- [11] http://www.justice.org/cps/rde/justice/hs.xsl/8689.htm
- [12] http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/531692_3
- [13] http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Latest-News-Wires/2011/0819/Medical-malpractice-suits-Only-1-in-5-pay


social