Lifetime Risk for Malpractice Suit Might Exceed 75%

For all our professional obsession about malpractice suits, we lack good data on recent patterns of risk and payment. U.S. researchers obtained access to a national insurer's records from 1991 through 2005, which encompassed almost 250,000 physician-years of liability coverage.

Neurosurgeons and cardiovascular surgeons faced the highest annual risk for claims (almost 20%), and pediatricians and psychiatrists had the lowest (less than 5%). Overall, only 22% of suits resulted in payments to claimants, with patterns that did not correlate well with overall risk for suit. For example, gynecologists who do not practice obstetrics (a “medium-risk” specialty), faced the highest risk for payment if sued, whereas obstetrician–gynecologists were more …