10 Medical Malpractice Statistics You Should know

Medical malpractice deaths have steadily risen in the past ten years. It is now the third-leading cause of death in the United States with more than 250,000 people dying every year from surgical errors and negligence. This is all according to new medical malpractice statistics, published by Rosenbaum & Associates, an injury and medical malpractice law firm in Philadelphia.

They collected data from 2009 to 2018 and these are the top 10 most interesting statistics listed on there:

1. Surgical error deaths are the third-leading cause of death in the United States.
2. At least 250,000 people are killed by medical errors every year.
3. The average payout for a medical malpractice lawsuit in the past 10 years was $309,908
4. New York had the highest medical malpractice payouts in the U.S. with $7 Billion between 2009-2018
5. The state with the lowest medical malpractice payments was North Dakota with $28.35 Million.
6. Since 2009, a total of $38.5 Billion has been paid out to victims across the United States.
7. Physicians (MD) are the highest practitioners to be sued for medical malpractice with over 85,000 reports between 2009-2018.
8. Dentist Hygienists/Assistants have the lowest amount of medical malpractice lawsuits with just 45 lawsuits in the past 10 years.
9. The largest medical malpractice payout was awarded to a man in Florida for a misdiagnosis of stroke systems. He was paid $216.7 Million.
10. 2015 had the highest amount of medical malpractice payouts in the past 10 years, with a total of $4.01 Billion in damages collectively awarded to victims.

To learn more about medical malpractice statistics visit the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB).