More than half of physicians face a lawsuit at some point in their career, but only a small fraction of suits that go to trial result in a decision against the physician, according to the Medscape Medical Malpractice Report 2019.
Medscape surveyed 4,360 physicians across 29-plus specialties to determine the top 10 specialties for lawsuits.
The percent of physicians in each specialty that have faced lawsuits:
1. General surgery: 85 percent
2. Urology: 84 percent
3. ENT: 83 percent
4. OB-GYN and women's health: 83 percent
5. Specialized surgery: 80 percent
6. Radiology: 76 percent
7. Emergency medicine: 76 percent
8. Cardiology: 65 percent
9. Gastroenterology: 63 percent
10. Anesthesiology: 62 percent