Distribution of diagnosis-related malpractice allegations and payments by severity of patient outcome (1986*–2010)
| Severity of alleged malpractice injury† | n (%) | Mean, US$ | Median, US$ | Malpractice payments in US$ millions (%) | SD in millions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Death | 13614 (40.9) | 390186 | 251745 | 5311 (41.0) | $ 0.45 |
| Significant permanent injury | 5628 (16.9) | 419711 | 269255 | 2362 (18.2) | $ 0.47 |
| Major permanent injury | 4431 (13.3) | 568599 | 355350 | 2519 (19.4) | $ 0.74 |
| Minor permanent injury | 3344 (10.0) | 249001 | 120705 | 832 (6.4) | $ 0.32 |
| Major temporary injury | 2320 (7.0) | 201520 | 107153 | 467 (3.6) | $ 0.27 |
| Minor temporary injury | 1973 (5.9) | 106146 | 47500 | 209 (1.6) | $ 0.19 |
| Quadriplegic, brain damage, lifelong care | 1485 (4.5) | 808591 | 564300 | 1200 (9.3) | $ 0.89 |
| Insignificant injury | 253 (0.8) | 78776 | 26775 | 19 (0.2) | $ 0.20 |
| Emotional injury only | 246 (0.7) | 137611 | 51389 | 33 (0.3) | $ 0.26 |
| Total | 33294 (100) | 389191 | 232050 | 12958 (100) | $ 0.52 |
*Data on severity of injury are available in the NPDB only for claims filed after 31 January 2004. This table does not include claims filed before 2004, so claims paid during the 1980s and 1990s are under-represented in these analyses.
†Our analysis excludes 321 cases in which the severity of injury was reported as ‘could not be determined from available records.’
NPDB, National Practitioner Data Bank.