Large Medical Malpractice Payouts Have Little Impact on Cost of Care
11May2013
Supporters of medical malpractice reform sometimes claim that large malpractice payouts drive up the costs of health care. However, a new study in the Journal for Healthcare Quality debunks that assertion, finding that large medical malpractice payouts have a minimal impact on health care costs.
Scientists at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine reviewed medical malpractice payouts of more than $1 million and found that they amounted to approximately $1.4 billion a year. That is less than 1 percent of the national cost of health care.
The researchers reviewed medical malpractice claims from the National Practitioner Data Bank between 2004 and 2010. During this period, there were more than 77,600 medical malpractice payouts. Catastrophic payouts of over $1 million made up 7.9 percent of the claims.
Payouts of more than $1 million were more likely to occur when a patient under the age of one is killed or injured as a result of medical negligence, when patients suffered quadriplegia, brain damage, or other serious injuries requiring long-term care, or when the patients’ injuries related to anesthesia errors.
More than a third of the catastrophic payouts involved a physician with a previous claim in the database.
The study includes only payouts on behalf of individual health care providers, not on behalf of hospitals or other corporations. That means that the overall number of payouts for medical malpractice during the period is more than 77,600 by an estimated 20 percent, the study authors said.
The medical injury lawyers at Morrow Kidman Tinker Macey-Cushman, PLLC represent victims of medical negligence by doctors, nurses, technicians, and other medical personnel in Seattle and across Washington.
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