Medical Malpractice is now the third leading cause of death in the United States. Common types of cases in the field of medical malpractice include birth injuries, emergency room errors, failure to diagnose, misdiagnosis, anesthesia errors, medication errors, surgery errors, and improper treatment. Analyzing the death rate from preventable medical error over an eight year period of time, Johns Hopkins researchers demonstrated that more than 250,000 people per year die in the United States as a result of medical malpractice1. That means that 9.5-10% of all deaths in America are due to preventable medical malpractice. And those are just the deaths. Even more people are injured by medical malpractice and prescription drug side effects every year.
As plaintiff lawyers, part of our job is minimizing or preventing public harm. Given the number of Americans hurt and killed every year by preventable medical negligence, it is no surprise that medical malpractice is the third leading area of personal injury practice, with approximately 31% of plaintiff lawyers claiming to handle medical malpractice cases, although we believe lawyers dedicated to malpractice as a major focus is a much smaller percentage. Despite the very serious public risk of medical malpractice, the loss rate for plaintiffs at trial is staggering – over 90% of hospitals and doctors win at trial, often despite evidence demonstrating clear medical negligence. This leaves taxpayers, paying public benefits due to the injured party’s disability in the amount of $17-29 billion / year according to an older study published in 20002. Jurors are willing to tax themselves, rather than hold a doctor responsible even when the doctor kills the patient.
In addition to the risk of loss at trial being high, the costs of pursuing these cases are amongst the highest of all plaintiff cases. Case selection skills are critical, and often involve hiring a legal nurse consultant and expert doctors to review the case and confirm that the defendant violated the standard of care before you ever accept the case.
One of the most common problems for lawyers handling these cases, is that unlike auto cases, the “rules” of practicing medicine are not as clear as rules that govern drivers in an auto case. There are few bright line rules like there are with driving. If the defense keeps you in that “grey area,” you will lose. Another major challenge is jury bias, as demonstrated for the past thirty years by Greg Cusimano and David Wenner in their research, which has increasingly contaminated the American public through support from major corporations (such as insurers, big tobacco and big pharma), tort reform politicians and talk radio. Despite stories of doctors leaving for other states, The Medical Malpractice Myth, attributes the spike in malpractice insurance premiums not on medical malpractice lawsuits, but instead on the doctors’ own insurance companies.
With such a high loss rate, combined with the cost of handling these cases, we recognize the invaluable importance that medical malpractice lawyers provide society in attempting to keep the injury and death rate from medical malpractice to a minimum. As a result, Trial Guides has created a set of medical malpractice books and medical malpractice videos aimed at helping lawyers handling these difficult cases to win for their clients. These medical malpractice resources will help any lawyer, at any experience level to handle these cases better, increasing your opportunity to win in cases that otherwise would result in a defense verdict.
1 Makary, M. Medical error – the third leading cause of death in the US, BMJ 2016;353:i2139.
2 Kohn LT, Corrigan JM, Donaldson MS, editors. To err is human: building a safer health system. Washington (DC): National Academies Press; 2000.
Top 9 Medical Malpractice Resources for Lawyers
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