Litigation Statistics

The Statistics

Many factors contribute to the decline of American healthcare and must be addressed. However, the litigious atmosphere that envelopes the practice of medicine now lies at the heart of the problem. The medical/legal system must be reformed before progress can be made on other fronts. To better understand the problem, some statistics are helpful.

In 2004, 75% of liability claims closed without payment to the patient. Moreover, 40% were filed with no merit—37% did not involve medical error and 3% did not involve injury.


Of the remaining 25% of cases, many were settled without trial because it costs less to settle than to take the case to court—even if the physician believed there was no negligence.


In cases decided by jury verdict the physician was exonerated 83% of the time.


For jury cases ruled in the physician’s favor the average defense cost $93,559.


Even for cases dropped or dismissed the average defense cost $18,774.


Between 1997 and 2004 the average jury award increased from $347,134 to $606,907.


Between 1997 and 2004 the average settlement increased from $212,861 to $311,704.


The Health and Human Service report released March 3, 2003 found that tort reform would reduce federal spending by $28.1 to $50.6 billion each year.


Defensive medicine is estimated to cost between $70 and $120 billion yearly. To put this in perspective, the total federal deficit for 2005 was $318 billion.


According to the Physicians Insurers Association of America (PIAA) in 2003
:

• 70% of cases were dismissed.

• 24% of cases were settled without trial.

• 5% of cases went to trial and were found in favor of the physician.

• Less than 1% of cases ended in a jury award to the plaintiff. (The actual number was .8%)


In 2002, physicians alone paid 6.3 billion dollars in malpractice premiums, a number that now 12 billion dollars yearly. Nurses, hospitals, and clinics pay malpractice premiums in addition to this.


Based upon the above statistics only one of every three dollars physicians pay in litigation reaches the patient. Two of every three dollars is spent on legal fees. (This does not include the dollars used to maintain the malpractice insurance industry.)


82% of Americans believe that some physicians are leaving medicine because of excessive litigation.


76% of Americans favor a law that guarantees full payment of lost wages and medical expenses but limits that amount awarded for pain and suffering.