We respect and trust our doctors – in fact, we give them a special status in our country and pay them accordingly. And yet our hospitals and doctors’ offices are plagued by shocking medical malpractice events that can cost our health, our finances, our wellbeing, and even our lives. Every day, patients around the country suffer from medication errors, surgical mistakes, wrong diagnosis, missed diagnosis, wrong side surgery, and birth injures. Below, read a collection of medical malpractice statistics that reveal the scope and depth of the problem.
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• According to the Institute of Medicine, between 50,000 and 100,000 people die in hospitals each year due to preventable medical errors.
• The Bureau of Justice Statistics found that roughly have of all medical malpractice trials involved surgical errors and operating room mistakes.
• The Bureau of Justice Statistics also found that 27 percent of medical malpractice trials are won by the plaintiffs.
• A Harvard study found that only one in eight instances of medical malpractice is followed up by a medical malpractice lawsuit.
• More than half of all physicians face a lawsuit during their careers.
• The National Practitioner Data Bank reported that just over 5 percent of doctors are responsible for just over half of all medical errors. Of all doctors who settled medical malpractice cases, less than ten percent were disciplined.
• An estimated 12,000 people die each year while undergoing unnecessary surgery.
• A survey of hospital residents found that 13 percent had been impaired by alcohol while on the job in the last year.
• The Institute of Medicine reported that 1.5 million people are injured each year due to medication mistakes.