Stability, Not Crisis: Medical Malpractice Claim Outcomes in Texas, 1988–2002

Black, Bernard S.; Silver, Charles; Hyman, David A.; Sage, William M.

doi:10.1111/j.1740-1461.2005.00050.x

Cited by 78 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…A recent study of malpractice claims, based on evidence from the Texas Department of Insurance, directly contradicts contentions that the sharp increases in insurance rates for medical malpractice in the past decade are the result of jury behavior or a tort crisis (Black et al 2005). The study revealed no increase in the number of claims, no increase in the median or mean pay outs, and no change in the percentage of claims with payments of more than $1 million.…”

Section: Public Perception and Civil Jury Datamentioning

confidence: 87%

Real Juries

Diamond

Rose

2005

Annu. Rev. Law. Soc. Sci.

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The elaborate efforts of the legal system to control and channel jury behavior reveal a mistrust of an institution that also attracts extravagant praise. We look at the jury by examining research on real juries drawn from archival studies and posttrial surveys and interviews, as well as from the deliberations of real juries. We show how the methods used by courts to gather and select jurors affect the representativeness and legitimacy of the jury. We also examine the evidence underlying skepticism about jury verdicts and decision making, focusing on cases that pose special challenges to jurors, particularly those involving complex evidence, legal complexity, and the death penalty. We then consider how optimal jury trials can be achieved. Even twelve experienced judges, deliberating together, would probably not function well under the conditions we impose on the twelve inexperienced laymen [Judge Jerome Frank, Courts on Trial (1949), p. 120]. Juror #4 (discussing the testimony of an expert physician in a medical malpractice case): What I would like to have is 40 [specialists] and show them the [test results] and okay, get a survey and is this significant or is this not significant and would they have [done what the defendant did]? [Deliberating juror from the Arizona Filming Project (Diamond et al. 2003)]

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Section: Public Perception and Civil Jury Datamentioning

confidence: 87%

Real Juries

Diamond

Rose

2005

Annu. Rev. Law. Soc. Sci.

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“…There is a widespread perception, especially in the medical community, that malpractice litigation is out of control (Bornstein & Robicheaux, 2008). Although this perception has little basis in fact (e.g., Black, Silver, Hyman, & Sage, 2005), it has been a major impetus for the tort reform movement (Bornstein & Robicheaux, 2008; Halton & McCann, 2004). Moreover, advocates of tort reform place much of the blame for the perceived ills of the civil justice system squarely on the jury (Landsman, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How reason for surgery and patient weight affect verdicts and perceptions in medical malpractice trials: A comparison of students and jurors

Reichert

Miller

Bornstein

et al. 2011

Behavioral Sci & The Law

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Jurors' decision-making processes are often influenced by extra-legal factors, including judgments of defendants and plaintiffs. Two studies comparing the decisions of university students with those of community jurors sought to determine if extra-legal factors such as individual differences (including identity as a student or juror participant), the reason for surgery (medically necessary vs. elective), the type of surgery (e.g., gastric bypass, nasal reconstruction) or weight of the patient influenced jurors' decisions and perceptions in medical malpractice suits, such that participants would hold negative perceptions of overweight patients or patients who undergo elective surgeries. Results indicate that students and jurors differ in perceptions of the patient's injury and perceptions of risk, which explains some of the variance in liability verdicts. Students were more likely to find doctors liable, but also were more likely to assign responsibility to patients than were jurors. Patients who had undergone elective surgery were seen as more responsible for their situation - and their doctors were assigned less responsibility - than those who had undergone a medically necessary surgery. Tests of weight bias showed that jurors found overweight patients less responsible for their situation than patients of normal weight, but students showed the opposite pattern. Theoretical explanations are explored and implications discussed.

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“…We also observed that mean time to resolution for pediatrics cases increased significantly over our sample period, consistent with past findings. 4,22 Lengthy time to resolution is an additional cost of medical malpractice that is often not estimated but may be substantial when there is lost practice time and nonmonetary costs to physicians, such as reputational damage and anxiety. 3 Pediatric patients and their families are also adversely affected by delays in compensation and personal closure that are caused by lengthy time to resolution.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Malpractice Risk Among US Pediatricians

2013

PEDIATRICS

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WHAT'S KNOWN ON THIS SUBJECT: Despite evidence on how malpractice risk varies according to physician specialty, there is growing but still limited evidence about malpractice among US pediatricians. The frequency of malpractice claims against pediatricians is low among specialties, but payments are among the highest. WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS:This study describes malpractice risk among US pediatricians using data from a nationwide liability insurer covering 1630 pediatricians from 1991 to 2005. It compares pediatric malpractice experience with other specialties and studies patient factors associated with pediatric malpractice claims. abstract OBJECTIVE: To characterize malpractice risk among US pediatricians. METHODS:We analyzed malpractice claims of all pediatricians and other physicians covered by a nationwide liability insurer from 1991 to 2005 (n = 1630 pediatricians; 40 916 total physicians). We characterized annual malpractice risk among pediatricians compared with other physicians. We characterized claims according to patient age, injury type, months required to resolve the claim, and whether an indemnity payment was made. We estimated how patient age and injury type were associated with whether a claim resulted in payment to a patient (and if so, payment size) and the time required to resolve the claim. RESULTS:The annual percentage of pediatricians facing a malpractice claim was 3.1% (7.4% among other physicians, P , .001). Among 404 claims, 83 (20.5%) resulted in an indemnity payment and 15 (3.7%) resulted in a payment exceeding $1 million. Annual rates of indemnity were lower among pediatricians (0.5%) than other physicians (1.6%, P , .001), whereas rates of payments exceeding $1 million were similar (0.13% among pediatricians and 0.11% among other physicians, P = .57). The mean indemnity payment was $562 180 (SD $667 962). Cases with permanent injury (n = 172) had larger mean payments ($703 373) compared with fatalities ($559 102; n = 131) or temporary or psychological injuries ($127 663; n = 101), P , .05. The mean time to resolution was 23.4 months (SD 21.8 months).CONCLUSIONS: Indemnity payments among pediatricians are infrequent but large, particularly in cases with permanent patient injury rather than death or temporary injury. The time required to resolve claims may be considered to be long.

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Stability, Not Crisis: Medical Malpractice Claim Outcomes in Texas, 1988–2002

Cited by 78 publications

References 20 publications

Real Juries

Real Juries

How reason for surgery and patient weight affect verdicts and perceptions in medical malpractice trials: A comparison of students and jurors

Malpractice Risk Among US Pediatricians

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