Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice or medical negligence is the failure of a physician or other medical provider to meet the standard of care in diagnosing or treating a patient. Despite claims that there are very few medical errors, studies (cited below) estimate that more than 225,000 patients die each year from medical errors.

In addition, although insurance companies and some members of Congress claim that there is a medical malpractice crisis, the truth is that the number of medical malpractice claims paid nationwide in 2008 was the lowest since medical malpractice tracking began in 1990.

McCutchen and Sexton is committed to protecting consumers. In support of our firm’s commitment to fight any legislation that attempts to reduce the rights of patients injured through medical negligence, the following statistical data proves that safety measures are needed  to ensure good treatment, rather than tort reform that helps to eliminate accountability of bad doctors and hospitals.

• A 2004-06 study revealed 238,337 preventable hospital deaths in Medicare patients alone resulting from patient safety errors and costing the Medicare program $8.8 billion dollars.
Source: www.healthgrades.com

• According to an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, more than 225,000 people die each year
due to medical errors. Approximately 80,000 of these are related to infections in hospitals and more than 100,000 are due to medication errors or reactions.
Source: Journal of the American Medical Association

• According to a report from the Institutes of Medicine, annual deaths due resulting from a physician’s activity, manner, or therapy range between 230,000 to 284,000.
Source: www.mercola.com

• According to a report from the Institute of Medicine of the
National Academies, as many as 98,000 patients die each year
due to medical errors.
Source: Institute of Medicine of the National Academies

• According to a 2000 study of the World Health Organization, the United States ranked an average of 12 out of 13 (second from the bottom) when considering 16 available health indicators.
Source: World Health Report 2000

• Despite the requirement that hospitals must report most instances of peer reviewed disciplinary action taken concerning physicians practicing at the hospital to the National Practitioner Data Bank (“NPDB”), a 2006 Report shows that more than half of Arkansas hospitals with active NPDB registration had never made even a single report.
Source: NPDB Annual 2006 Report

• According to a 2009 report, chances are that five Americans will die every hour from preventable medical errors. There is better than a 50% chance that no medical malpractice payment will be made due to the medical malpractice error resulting in such deaths.
Source:  “The 0.6 Percent Bogeyman” Public Citizen 

• Despite claims of a need for tort reform due to claims of runaway juries, studies show that there is no medical malpractice crisis. For example, in 1999 when up to an estimated 98,000 hospital patients were killed, fewer than 15,000 malpractice payments were made.
Source:  “The 0.6 Percent Bogeyman” Public Citizen 

• The number of medical malpractice payments made in 2008 was the lowest since tracking measures were first instituted in 1990.
Source:  “The 0.6 Percent Bogeyman” Public Citizen 

• There are between 380,000 and 450,000 preventable adverse drug events that occur in United States hospitals annually. Both numbers are believed to be underestimates.
Source: Institute of Medicine of the National Academies