Malpractice payments drop, but errors don’t
Fewer medical malpractice payments were made on behalf of doctors in 2009 than in any previous year, according to the National Practitioner Data Bank.
The value of malpractice payments was also the lowest since 1999. Adjusted for inflation, payments were at their lowest since 1992, a Public Citizen analysis of the NPDB shows.
According to the analysis, healthcare spending rose 83 percent from 2000-09, while medical malpractice payments fell 8 percent.
The fall in medical malpractice cases and payments reflects the decreasing number of people willing to pursue them, according to Jarome E. Gautreaux, a partner at O’Neal, Brown & Gautreaux, P.C. in Macon, Ga., a firm that litigates medical malpractice suits.
“There are so many laws that make it difficult for the plaintiff to succeed (in Georgia),” he said.
A total of 10,772 payments were made on behalf of doctors in 2009, totaling $3.49 billion. That figure equals 0.14 of 1 percent of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ estimated $2.5 trillion in overall U.S. healthcare spending for 2009.
Last year was the fifth consecutive year that payments have fallen and the sixth straight year in which the value of payments has fallen, according to the analysis. In contrast, U.S. healthcare costs have increased every year since 1965, the first year the data was recorded.
“What has changed is that it’s becoming more difficult to litigate medical malpractice cases. It’s more expensive (in Georgia), but the plaintiff wins 80 percent of cases that make it to trial,” said Gautreaux.
Studies have found that injuries and deaths caused by medical errors dwarf the number of actual medical malpractice payments. For example, the Institute of Medicine found in 1999 that 44,000 to 98,000 people die every year due to avoidable errors.
Another survey, released by Jackson Healthcare and the Center for Health Transformation, showed that 73 percent of physicians practiced some form of “defensive medicine” in the past 12 months to protect themselves from frivolous lawsuits.
Doctors are only sued successfully if they are actually performing under the standard of care. The habit of practicing what is considered defensive medicine can be a little costly up front, but has proven to reduce medical errors and save lives.
One in four dollars spent on healthcare in America pays for unnecessary tests and treatments that physicians order to keep from being sued, according to a recent Gallup poll.
“Healthcare would be cheaper for every American if we could slash the cost of defensive medicine,” said Newt Gingrich, founder of the Center for Health Transformation. “Think of how often each of us gets sent for extra lab work or tests that seem so unnecessary.”
“If care costs a little more, isn’t it worth it?” said Gaugreaux. “The healthcare industry is safer because of lawyers, doctors and people who are willing to challenge the substandard.”
Some believe that medical malpractice suits have contributed to health costs, sometimes through the practice of defensive medicine. David Arkush, director of the Public Citizen’s Congress Watch division, doesn’t agree.
“Litigation accounts for a miniscule fraction of health costs, small enough to be a rounding error,” he said. “Congress should focus on fixing real problems like the crisis of preventable medical errors.”
“The goal of (health) reform should be safe medical treatment,” said Gautreaux.
