A Canadian Medical Association article compiles statistics from several studies regarding medical malpractice and the compensation of its victims. Studies show the following:
In 2004, Healthgrades, an independenthealth care ratings company…. [examined] 37 million patient records from all 50 states,representing 45% of all US hospital admissions, found 195,000hospital deaths from preventable medical errors annually between2000 and 2002, (www.healthgrades.com).
In 1990, Harvardresearchers examined more than 30,000 randomly selected recordsfrom New York hospitals. They concluded that 1% of patientswere negligently injured, while only 4% of those who were injured,sued.
Harvard researchers [concluded that jury awards and settlments were fair] when they examinedfiles from 1452 malpractice claims (NEJM 2006;354[19]:2024-33).Almost three-quarters had outcomes consistent with their merit.Only 10% of patients received payouts in the absence of error,while 16% received no payout despite the presence of error.“Portraits of a malpractice system that is stricken with frivolouslitigation are overblown,” the researchers concluded. The systemperforms “reasonably well” in dismissing such lawsuits and incompensating the injured.
The article also cited studies that show that jury awards are keeping up with the costs of medical care and are not out of line.
Attorneys who represent medical malpractice victims will not be surprised by these statistics. Experienced med-mal attorneys decline to accept the vast majority of cases that they review. Of the cases accepted, the negligence appears clear with substantial damages. But even with stringent screening, med-mal cases are difficult to win with juries looking for reasons to find for the physician or hospital.
There is also a “circle the wagons” mentality among physicians in Mississippi. This results in open hostility by physicians to plaintiffs and their attorneys, even from doctors who are not defendants in the case. In addition, Mississippi physicians almost never admit that another physician was negligent or that negligence caused the victim’s injuries. This stacks the deck in favor of medical defendants in Mississippi.