This week, we’ll take a look at some medical malpractice statistics including the specialties with the highest percentage of claims annually, the top specialties in which a claim resulted in payment to a plaintiff, and the states with the highest rate of medical malpractice payouts.
What Areas Have the Highest Claims and Payouts?
Claims According to Specialty
The top 5 specialties with the highest percentage of claims annually:
- Neurosurgery ~ 19% of neurosurgeons faced a malpractice claim
- Thoracic-cardiovascular surgery ~ 19% faced a claim.
- General surgery ~ 15% faced a claim.
Claims with a Payment to a Plaintiff
The top five specialties in which a claim resulted in a payment to a plaintiff:
- General surgery ~ 4% of claims resulted in payment.
- Thoracic-cardiovascular surgery ~ 4% of claims resulted in payment.
- Orthopedic surgery ~ 4% of claims resulted in payment.
What States Have the Highest Rate of Medical Malpractice Payouts?
New York
Rate: 1 payout per 899 people
New York has the highest rate of medical payouts as well as the highest number of medical malpractice payouts (21,855 from 2003-2013) overall in the country.
Pennsylvania
Rate: 1 payout per 1,077 people
Though Pennsylvania has about half the number of payments (11,860 from 2003-2013) of New York, its smaller population puts it second on the list of states with the highest rate of medical malpractice payouts.
New Jersey
Rate: 1 payout per 1,117 people
Another northeastern state, New Jersey rounds out the top three states with 7,963 payouts from 2003-2013.