The Real Medical Malpractice Crisis in America

Medical malpractice premiums have risen drastically during the past decade. Throughout the country doctors have abandoned their practices due to the sky-high costs of medical malpractice insurance. The insurance industry would like consumers to believe that "frivolous" medical malpractice lawsuits and "out-of-control" juries are the cause of this crisis, and health care providers are only too happy to agree.

The truth is medical malpractice simply occurs far too often. Medical malpractice is the sixth leading cause of death in America – killing more people than AIDS, breast cancer, or automobile accidents. Reports show that up to 98,000 patients die each year in U.S. hospitals – an average of 268 deaths per day – and many more are injured as a result of preventable medical errors. Preventable medical errors vary from surgeons operating on the wrong side of the brain to nurses administering lethal doses of medications to patients being sent home with erroneous prescriptions.

Most patients and their survivors never learn they were victims of medical negligence. Peer review and a conspiracy of silence protect many subpar and negligent doctors. There is no reason to presume the statistics have improved since a 1990 study indicated that only one of eight instances of malpractice resulted in a claim. According to another study, plaintiffs win only 26 percent of all suits that are filed and go to trial.

Although we want to trust doctors, we need to be careful. A West Virginia study found that just 40 doctors were responsible for more than a quarter of the 2,300 cases of medical malpractice reported to the West Virginia Board of Medicine between 1993 and 2001. A recent analysis of medical negligence records in Kentucky showed that from 1992 through 2001, a mere 16 percent of the state's doctors were responsible for 100 percent of the state’s medical malpractice.

Surprisingly, the medical profession and its insurers do not weed out repeat offenders. According to a recent study, fewer than 30 percent of doctors who had action taken against them for "substandard care, incompetence, or negligence," or for erroneously prescribing or overprescribing drugs, were required to stop practicing on even a temporary basis.

Further, when major medical malpractice insurer St. Paul Insurance Co. announced that it was leaving the business, it blamed malpractice verdicts. The company conveniently failed to mention that its economic hardship was actually caused by poor investments including the $108 million it lost in the Enron collapse.

The negligence of bad doctors and the poor business decisions of selfish insurance companies are certainly not the fault of the patients whom they mistreat. Yet, as much as these doctors and insurers try to blame lawyers and others for their current troubles, it is their patients who endure the worst punishment.

If you have been injured by a doctor's negligence or a hospital's error, please do not hesitate to contact us for assistance.