Medscape’s “Malpractice Report 2015: Why Most Doctors Get Sued” combined survey data from over 4,000 physicians to analyze the state of medical malpractice cases in the past year. Here are seven more valuable lessons to be gleaned from the survey’s results. (Part 1 of this article can be found here)
- Doctors are protective of their colleagues – but only to a point.
When asked how they respond when they hear a case involves a real medical error, 64 percent of the doctors surveyed answered that “doctors are human and sometimes make mistakes.” 62 percent agreed that mistakes were rare. But doctors were sympathetic to physician error only to a point: 41 percent of respondents said it was fine to sue incompetent or negligent practitioners.
- The doctors most likely to be sued are least likely to sue if they’re harmed.
OB/GYNs and surgeons were by far the most likely to have been sued in the past year – but they are the least likely to sue another doctor if they became the victim of a medical error. Oncologists, who were least likely to be sued, were the most likely to sue a negligent doctor.
- Most doctors don’t expect a lawsuit.
Doctors who were sued in the past year were mostly surprised by the lawsuit: 70 percent said they were not expecting it to happen. Twenty-seven percent said they “suspected” it might happen, while only three percent were “absolutely expecting” the lawsuit.
- Doctors spend a lot of time preparing for trial…
One in every three physicians facing a medical malpractice lawsuit spends over 40 hours preparing for trial – the equivalent of a full-time work week. An additional 18 percent spends more than 20 hours preparing for trial.
- …and even more time in the trial process.
Forty percent of doctors who had been sued reported spending more than 50 hours at trial or in meetings with lawyers. Another 38 percent spent more than 20 hours in trial and meetings.
- Four in every five medical malpractice cases take more than a year to complete.
Most of the cases covered in the Medscape report resolved in one to five years. Nineteen percent of them lasted less than a year, while twelve percent continued for more than five years.
- About one in every three medical malpractice cases is settled before trial.
This doesn’t mean that two in every three go to a jury, however. About one in three matters were dismissed before trial. Plaintiffs prevailed at trial in only three percent of the cases included in the Medscape study.
A Key Takeaway: Winning a Medical Malpractice Case Isn’t Easy: Obtain Aggressive Legal Help
Whether a surgeon left a sponge in an incision, a piece of medical machinery faltered, or a doctor misdiagnosed you, causing harm and a setback regarding your treatment, The Kelly Law Team can help you obtain appropriate compensation and hold the right people liable for what happened. Call (602) 283-4122 to speak with us about your case, and get the insight you need to feel back in control.
