Medical Malpractice
Attorney, Lawyer:
IF YOU ARE IN NEED OF AN ATTORNEY, BE CERTAIN THAT YOU CONSULT THREE (3) SEPARATE ATTORNEYS WITH EXPERIENCE IN THE PARTICULAR TYPE OF CASE, AND THEN CHOOSE THE ONE WHOM YOU BELIEVE IS BEST ABLE TO REPRESENT YOUR INTERESTS.
What is a Structured Settlement?
Of the 1,156 medical malpractice trials
litigated in the Nation’s 75 most
populous counties during 2001, most
were disposed of by jury trial (96%)
(not shown in a table). In an estimated
9 out of 10 medical malpractice trials,
the alleged harm involved either a
permanent injury (57%) or a death claim (33%)
About half of the sampled medical
malpractice trials were brought against
surgeons, while a third were against
nonsurgeons. Dentists accounted for
5% of medical malpractice defendants
Medical malpractice trials with nonsurgeons
had the highest estimated
percentage of injuries involving a death
claim (43%). Death claims arose in
30% of trials with a surgeon defendant
(not shown in a table).
The overall win rate for medical
malpractice plaintiffs (27%) was about
half of that found among plaintiffs in all
tort trials (52%). Plaintiffs prevailed in
nearly 39% of trials against dentist
defendants and in about a quarter of
trials against nonsurgeon (23%) and surgeon (27%) defendants
The median award of $425,000 in
medical malpractice trials was nearly
16 times greater than the overall
median award in all tort trials
($27,000). Median award amounts
were higher among plaintiffs who won
Note: Includes bench and jury trials,
trials with a directed verdict, judgments
notwithstanding the verdict, and jury trials for defaulted defendants. Detail
may not
sum to total because of rounding.
--No cases recorded.
a Data on type of defendant were available for 89.8% of the sampled medical
malpractice trials.
b Data on plaintiff winners were available for 100.0% of the sampled medical
malpractice trials
in which the defendant type was known.
c Data on final awards were available for 98.9% of medical malpractice trials in
which the
type of defendant and the winner was known.
17.5 47.5 224,000 76,924,000 36 40.0 90 Other
-- 20.6 53,000 2,867,000 20 38.9 54 Dentist
36.4 70.5 575,000 245,587,000 140 26.5 533 Doctor – surgeon
29.7 76.6 511,000 122,841,000 82 23.0 361 Doctor – nonsurgeon
29.4% 65.7% $425,000 $448,219,000 278 27.1% 1,038 malpractice trials
Medical
Percent of plaintiff
winners with awards
Over $1 million
$250,000 or more
Final awards to plaintiff winner
Numbers Total Median
Percent
of plaintiff
winners b
Number
of
trials
Case and
defendant type a
. Awards in medical malpractice cases decided by a bench or jury
trial in State courts in the Nation’s 75 largest counties, 2001
Note: Injury data were available for 78.2% (904) of medical malpractice trials.
Trials include bench and jury trials, trials with a directed verdict, judgments
notwithstanding the verdict, and jury trials for defaulted defendants.
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