Food for Thought — Medical Malpractice: By the Numbers

The newly updated briefing book on Medical Malpractice: By the Numbers from the Center for Justice & Democracy at New York Law School offers the latest statistics and research on issues related to medical malpractice.

The nearly 500 footnotes linking to original sources cover a wide range of topics, including: medical malpractice litigation; health care costs and “defensive medicine”; physician supply and access to health care; medical malpractice insurance; patient safety; and special problems for vets and military families.

Among the many new research findings are:

• Medical malpractice insurance companies are making twice the profit of the entire property/casualty insurance industry. In fact, the med mal insurance industry has had seven years of underwriting profit – something completely unheard of in the property/casualty sector.
• “At least eight doctors whose medical licenses were suspended or revoked collectively billed Medicare more than $7 million in 2012.”
• Medical malpractice premiums are not rising; other factors are contributing to the plight of physicians, specifically “health insurers that clamp down on the size of physician fees and deny payment for services that they deem unnecessary.”

A copy of the full briefing book can be found at https://centerjd.org/content/briefing-book-medical-malpractice-numbers.