More than 58% of specialists have been defendants or co-defendants in a malpractice lawsuit, according to a survey from Medscape.
The report, published in October, showed physicians' experiences of being sued, the reasons for malpractice lawsuits and how the suits ended.
Medscape surveyed 3,037 U.S. physicians across 29 specialties from May 5 to July 5, 2023.
Here are eight statistics from the report:
1. Thirty-five percent of respondents were named in a lawsuit, and 32% were part of a lawsuit where other parties were also named.
2. General surgeons are the most-frequently-sued specialty, with 90% saying they have been a sole or co-defendant in a malpractice suit. OB-GYN (85%) and orthopedic (82%) specialists were the other surgeons over 80%.
3. Physicians in Louisiana faced the most lawsuits out of any state, with 72% of physicians practicing in the state saying they've been named at least once. Indiana (68%), Kentucky (68%), New Mexico (67%) and Pennsylvania (66%) made up the rest of the top five states.
4. "Failure to diagnose or delayed diagnosis," "complications from treatment or surgery" and "failure to treat or delayed treatment" were the three most common malpractice allegations against physicians.
5. More than 40% of malpractice cases lasted one to two years.
6. Forty-one percent of malpractice cases ended in the case being dismissed, 32% of cases were settled and 12% returned a verdict favoring the physician.
7. When a plaintiff received an award or settlement, the most common amount was between $100,001 and $500,000.
8. After going through a malpractice lawsuit, 40% of physicians took steps to reduce risk for future claims, 32% trusted patients less often and treated them differently, and 8% left the practice setting.