Medical malpractice payouts: a snapshot

July 30, 2019

A look at where and why malpractice payouts are happening.

Medical malpractice payouts: a snapshot

Misdiagnosis allegations accounted for the largest percentage-34.1%-of the $4.03 billion in medical malpractice payouts made in 2018, according to an analysis of information from the National Practitioner Data Bank by LeverageRx. The 2018 total was up 2.9% from the previous year, continuing a trend that began in 2016.

Read on for more results from the LeverageRX report.

States with the 10 highest malpractice payouts per resident

States with the 10 highest malpractice payouts per resident

#10 Florida

$16.28 (total payouts: $346.8 million)

#9 Rhode Island

$17.58 (total payouts: $18.5 million)

#8 Alaska

$18.69 (total payouts: $13.7 million)

#7 West Virginia

$21.00 (total payouts: $37.9 million)

#6 Maine

$21.52 (total payouts: $28.8 million)

States with the 10 highest malpractice payouts per resident, cont’d

#5 Massachusetts

$25.20 (total payouts: $173.9 million)

#4 New Jersey

$25.45 (total payouts: $226.7 million)

#3 Connecticut

$28.24 (total payouts: $100.8 million)

#2 Pennsylvania

$28.81 (total payouts: $369.0 million)

#1 New York

$35.07 (total payouts: $685.3 million)

States with the 10 lowest malpractice payouts per resident

States with the 10 lowest malpractice payouts per resident

#41 California

$6.81 (total payments: $269.2 million)

#42 Tennessee

$6.39 (total payments: $43.2 million)

#43 Idaho

$6.18 (total payments: $10.8 million)

#44 Arkansas

$5.43 (total payments: $16.3 million)

#45 North Carolina

$4.84 (total payments: $50.2 million)

States with the 10 lowest malpractice payouts per resident, cont’d

States with the 10 lowest malpractice payouts per resident, cont’d

#46 Texas

$3.90 (total payments: $11.8 million)

#47 Washington, D.C.

$3.82 (total payments: $2.6 million)

#48 Wisconsin

$3.78 (total payments: $21.9 million)

#49 Mississippi

$3.55 (total payments: $10.6 million)

#50 North Dakota

$0.89 (total payments: $675,300)

Percentage of total payout amounts by allegation category

Percentage of total payout amounts by allegation category

#10 Behavior health related: 0.3%

#9 Equipment related: 0.6%

#8 Other/miscellaneous: 1.2%

#7 Monitoring related: 3.2%

#6 Anesthesia related: 3.3%

Percentage of total payout amounts by allegation category, cont’d

Percentage of total payout amounts by allegation category, cont’d

#5 Medication related: 4.5%

#4 Obstetrics related: 10.3%

#3 Treatment: 21.1%

#2 Surgery: 21.4%

#1 Diagnosis: 34.1%

Average payment amounts by severity of alleged outcome

Average payment amounts by severity of alleged outcome

Insignificant injury: $40,030

Minor temporary injury: $87,252

Outcome unknown: $128,489

Emotional injury only: $128,821

Major temporary injury: $227,063

Average payment amounts by severity of alleged outcome, cont’d

Average payment amounts by severity of alleged outcome, cont’d

Minor permanent injury: $242,524

Death: $386,317

Significant permanent injury: $450, 326

Major permanent injury: $610,393

Quadriplegic, brain damage, lifelong care: $961,185

Percentage of total payments by patient type

Percentage of total payments by patient type

Inpatient: 43.74%

Outpatient: 39.65%

Both: 9.70%

Unknown: 6.91%