Risk Management, Malpractice

Primary Listings

Malpractice and Medical Liability Claims (AMA pdf)

American Medical Association December 2017 report shows more than a third (34%) of physicians have had a medical liability claim filed against them at some point in their career. Results shown by age group and specialty. By the time physicians were age 55 or older, nearly half (49%) had been sued. (Data from AMA’s 2016 Benchmark Survey.) According to another report at this site, about two-thirds (68%) of claims that closed between 2006 and 2015 were dropped, dismissed or withdrawn. When an indemnity payment was made – as was the case for one fourth of claims, the average payment in 2015 was $365,503. Median payment was $200,000. (AMA Economic and Health Policy Research, January 2018).

National Practitioner Data Bank – 2022 Report

The National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) annual report for 2022 summarizes medical malpractice payment amounts. The average amount was $428,090 for physician claims. There were nearly 7,000 payments related to physician malpractice (MDs and DOs). Total payments in 2022 were almost $3 billion. The Data Analysis Tool shows total medical malpractice reports and payments by type of practitioner and by state. Consumers must calculate the average payment themselves. Of almost 800,000 people in the Data Bank, about 260,000 are physicians. Other practitioners include nurses, chiropractors, dentists, pharmacists, podiatrists and others. The Data Bank goes back to 1990. No individuals are named.

An older and more detailed pdf version of the report is available for 2012 only. It was published in 2014. The 2012 report reported that the time lag between incident and payment was typically 4 to 7 years. NPDB Report from 2012 is 78 pages.