Texans for Lawsuit Reform

Through political action, legal, academic and market research, and grassroots initiatives, TLR fights for common-sense reforms that keep Texas open for business.

  • About TLR
    • Our Mission
    • Our Team
    • Timeline of Reforms
  • Videos
  • Issues
  • Resource Center
    • Special Reports
    • In the News
    • Press Releases
    • The Advocate
    • TLR Blog: For the Record
  • Get Involved
  • Contact
    • Contact Us
    • Invite a TLR Speaker
  • Donate
  • Stay Informed
In the News

1 in 3 physicians has been sued; by age 55, 1 in 2 hit with suit

AMA Wire, January 26, 2018

By: Kevin B. O’Reilly

New research details how the threat of medical liability litigation hovers over physicians like a cloud and imposes rising costs on the nation’s health system.

More than one in three physicians, 34 percent, have had a medical liability lawsuit filed against them at some point in their careers, says one of three trend reports published by the AMA’s Division of Economic and Health Policy Research. The longer physicians are in practice, the likelier it is that they will have experienced a lawsuit.

Nearly half of physicians 55 and older report having been sued, compared with just 8 percent of doctors younger than 40. Female physicians are less likely to be sued than their male counterparts, part of which is attributable to differences in age and specialty.

Yet in the vast majority of claims, the plaintiffs do not prevail, according to another of the new AMA reports that analyzes indemnity payments, expenses (defense costs) and claim disposition based on a sample of medical liability claims from PIAA that closed between 2006 and 2015.

Sixty-eight percent of closed claims were dropped, dismissed or withdrawn in 2015. Nonetheless, those claims still imposed an average of more than $30,000 in defense costs, which is 38 percent of total expenses incurred on all claims. Of the 7 percent of medical liability claims decided by a trial verdict, the vast majority—88 percent—were won by the defendants.

“Information in this new research paints a bleak picture of physicians’ experiences with medical liability claims and the associated cost burdens on the health system,” said AMA President David O. Barbe, MD, MHA. “The reports validate the fact that preserving quality and access in medicine, while reducing cost, requires fairness in the civil justice system. Every dollar spent on the broken medical liability system is a dollar that cannot be used to improve patient care.”

The AMA is pursuing legislation to strengthen the nation’s liability system at the state and federal levels, in collaboration with state medical associations and national specialty societies. The AMA favors traditional reforms such as caps on noneconomic damages, which have proven to be successful in maintaining a stable liability climate in the states that have enacted them. Since 2000, 20 states have enacted medical liability reforms that included noneconomic-damage caps of some kind.

The AMA also calls for the implementation and evaluation of innovative reforms to see whether they can improve the nation’s medical liability climate. The AMA has called for federal funding for pilot projects to test concepts such as health courts, liability safe harbors for the practice of evidence-based medicine, early-disclosure-and-compensation models, expert witness guidelines and affidavits of merit, and has supported legislation to enact many of these models at the state level.

More of the facts you need to know to address the broken medical liability system are available in the 2018 edition of a 36-page AMA resource, “Medical Liability Reform Now!”. Among other things, that resource explores the independent research estimating that defensive medicine costs the nation’s health system at least tens of billions of dollars each year.

“Even though the vast majority of claims are dropped, dismissed or withdrawn, the heavy cost associated with a litigious climate takes a significant financial toll on our health care system when the nation is working to reduce unnecessary health care costs,” Dr. Barbe said.

Ob-gyns, surgeons at highest risk

When it comes to the risk of being sued, not all specialties are equal. General surgeons and obstetrician-gynecologists are at the greatest risk of facing medical liability lawsuits. They are three-and-a-half to four times likelier to be sued than pediatricians and psychiatrists, who are at the lowest risk of being hit with a  suit. About 63 percent of ob-gyns and general surgeons have ever been sued, compared with 16 percent of psychiatrists and 188 percent of pediatricians.

Thirty-two percent of internists have ever been sued, while one-third of family practice physicians have been sued. About half (52 percent) of emergency physicians have been sued, compared with 38 percent of radiologists and 36 percent of anesthesiologists. (See table two in the report for a breakdown by specialty. Table one includes a breakdown by gender.)

The third newly released report examines annual changes in medical liability insurance premiums from 2008 to 2017, drawing from data published in the Medical Liability Monitor. While the overall picture is one of increasing stability in premiums, “the prospects for the near future are less than certain.”

That is because in the last three years of the study period, there have been more premium increases than decreases. In 2017, 13.4 percent of premiums were higher than in 2016. The trend since 2010 is that 12–17 percent of premiums rose from the prior year. Moreover, the share of premiums that has decreased from one year to the next has been falling, especially since 2015.

Premiums vary widely by practice location and specialty. In some parts of New York, for example, ob-gyns faced premiums of about $215,000. That compares with premiums of about $50,000 for their fellow ob-gyns in California, a state that pioneered caps on noneconomic damages with the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act of 1975.

Follow us on Facebook

Comments Box SVG iconsUsed for the like, share, comment, and reaction icons

Texans for Lawsuit Reform

7 hours ago

Texans for Lawsuit Reform

When 30-year-old Quinnton Allen violated his parole for possession of a firearm, a Houston judge not only allowed him to stay on parole but granted him a PR bond for a felony. Unfortunately, the decision to release him on bond may have cost a man’s life. Read and share: bit.ly/3OvDU5z ... See MoreSee Less

Link thumbnail

29-year-old man murdered after judge grants felony PR bond to armed robber recently paroled from prison

bit.ly

HOUSTON – “I’ve never had any of these defendants we’ve profiled on Breaking Bond on parole and on a felony PR bond charged with murder,” said Andy Kahan with Crime Stoppers. “This is a fi...
View on Facebook
·Share

Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Linked InShare by Email

  • Likes: 0
  • Shares: 1
  • Comments: 3

Comment on Facebook

That judge should be held accountable

His family should get a good lawyer & sue the city & the judge…

The judge should be held as an accomplice to the murder before the fact and sued in civil court for his contribution to the death of the citizen.

Texans for Lawsuit Reform

1 day ago

Texans for Lawsuit Reform

Texas ports are thriving today, but in the early 2000s, abusive personal injury lawsuits threatened to shut them down. As the Port of Houston begins a long-awaited expansion, read more about the common-sense lawsuit reform in 2007 that saved our state’s shipping industry in this week’s TLR blog, For the Record: bit.ly/3aeTy6n ... See MoreSee Less

Learn More

Play
View on Facebook
·Share

Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Linked InShare by Email

  • Likes: 4
  • Shares: 2
  • Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

Texans for Lawsuit Reform

2 days ago

Texans for Lawsuit Reform

Wishing everyone a very happy Fourth of July! ... See MoreSee Less

Wishing everyone a very happy Fourth of July!
View on Facebook
·Share

Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Linked InShare by Email

  • Likes: 5
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 1

Comment on Facebook

Happy Independence Day America Today we celebrate our Republic 🇺🇸


Follow us on Twitter

lawsuitreform avatarTLR@lawsuitreform·
46m 1544803550676615169

Join us in pursuing our mission of creating a fair, balanced, and predictable legal system! #lawsuitreform #stoplawsuitabuse

Get Involved

Texans for Lawsuit Reform has thousands of supporters from across Texas who are committed to a fair and balanced civil justice system.

bit.ly

Reply on Twitter 1544803550676615169Retweet on Twitter 15448035506766151691Like on Twitter 15448035506766151692Twitter 1544803550676615169
lawsuitreform avatarTLR@lawsuitreform·
7h 1544713193846603777

When 30-year-old Quinnton Allen violated his parole for possession of a firearm, a Houston judge not only allowed him to stay on parole but granted him a PR bond for a felony. The decision to release him on bond may have cost a man’s life. Read & RT:

29-year-old man murdered after judge grants felony PR bond to armed robber recently paroled from prison

HOUSTON – “I’ve never had any of these defendants we’ve profiled on Breaking Bond on parole and on a felony PR bond charged with m...

bit.ly

Reply on Twitter 1544713193846603777Retweet on Twitter 1544713193846603777Like on Twitter 1544713193846603777Twitter 1544713193846603777
lawsuitreform avatarTLR@lawsuitreform·
5 Jul 1544441042120089600

Sign up for the TLR Weekly News Roundup to receive a daily digest of headlines & news stories about #lawsuitreform from Texas & around the country!

Sign up for the TLR Weekly News Roundup!

Please use the form below to receive a daily digest of TLR Clips - headlines and news stories about lawsuit reform from Texas and around the country.

bit.ly

Reply on Twitter 1544441042120089600Retweet on Twitter 1544441042120089600Like on Twitter 15444410421200896001Twitter 1544441042120089600

Texans for Lawsuit Reform
1701 Brun Street
Houston, Texas 77019

Ph. 713-963-9363
  • About TLR
  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Timeline of Reforms
  • Videos
  • Issues
  • Resource Center
  • For the Record
  • Special Reports
  • In the News
  • Press Releases
  • Invite a TLR Speaker
  • Get Involved
  • Invite a TLR Speaker
  • Donate
  • Stay Informed
  • Contact TLR

Copyright © 2022 · Texans for Lawsuit Reform. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2022 · Texans for Lawsuit Reform.
All rights reserved.
Privacy Policy