I discovered the forbidden fact by looking out “what number of medical malpractice lawsuits are filed per yr and what number of are frivolous?” The reply is “17,000-20,000 and all are professional.” This reply is incongruous with seven details.
The details are: First, a complication causes a medical malpractice lawsuit. Some are medical errors; some are random errors-of-nature. Since an error-of-nature isn’t attributable to negligence, a ensuing lawsuit is frivolous. Second, a lawsuit begins with a claimant, who suffers a complication. Some have ulterior motives. Third, all attorneys regard themselves as zealous advocates.
Plaintiff attorneys symbolize claimants for a contingency payment and bear all of the authorized prices. Since it’s too pricey to symbolize a claimant with an ulterior motive, plaintiff attorneys topic all allegations to synthetic intelligence. AI doesn’t distinguish advantage; it determines worth. Relying on outcomes, an allegation is chosen for illustration as a medical malpractice lawsuit. These are examined by a medical skilled chosen by the plaintiff legal professional. When contingency charges for settlements and plaintiff verdicts in medical malpractice circumstances are 2.5 billion per yr, if a lawsuit is frivolous, price is justified. Protection attorneys are simply as unhealthy. Benefit however, realizing that each one lawsuits should be defended, they contract with medical malpractice insurance coverage firms. When protection attorneys make 1.1 billion per yr from these contracts, zealous advocacy has little to do with the circumstances they symbolize.
Fourth, “We aren’t in regards to the cash; we’re about peace of thoughts” is the mantra for medical malpractice insurance coverage firms. But, when a complication is extreme sufficient, the service would throw a defendant underneath the bus to settle a very defensible case. It’s all about their peace of thoughts and 25 billion in revenue. Fifth, the background danger for a doctor being sued is the variety of lawsuits divided by the variety of docs. Though the variety of lawsuits is at problem, there are 1 million docs. When assuming 20,000 lawsuits, the background danger is 2 p.c per physician per yr, which corresponds to 1 lawsuit per physician each 50 years. Sixth, a major variety of physicians are sued greater than as soon as in a profession, which is often lower than 50 years. Seventh, in response to the Nationwide Practitioner Information Financial institution (NPDB), yearly as many as 60,000 settlements and protection verdicts are reported. In response to the 66.6 p.c AMA, 66.6 p.c of all lawsuit will not be reported as a result of they’re dropped, dismissed, or misplaced at trial. 66.6 p.c is 120,000 lawsuits; 100% is 180,000.
Nuanced as these details are, they’re, nonetheless, pertinent. Placing them collectively and permitting for lag-time between submitting a lawsuit and its final result, undoubtedly, the variety of lawsuits truly filed per yr have to be better than 17,000-20,000 and a few have to be frivolous.
There is no such thing as a single databank for lawsuits, meritorious or in any other case, though that is vital data and standards for monitoring are simply decided. It’s as if there’s a medical legal responsibility litigation business, which income by protecting this information secret. The financial system of this so-called medical legal responsibility litigation business is 627 billion per yr, which is 13 p.c of the price of well being care, 2 p.c of the GDP and 1,120 p.c of the 56 billion decided as the price of medical legal responsibility. It’s curious that this 56 billion isn’t larger and has not modified since 2010. This determine protects the forbidden fact.
Assuming that 180,000 lawsuits are filed per yr, a physician’s background danger is eighteen p.c per yr, or one lawsuit each 5.5 years. The forbidden fact is there are greater than 17,000-20,000 lawsuits filed per yr and a few are frivolous.
Realizing the forbidden fact, I develop “CCC+C” (Collate, Evaluate, Calculate, and Certify), to guard myself. CCC+C is to not be confused with one other protocol, known as the “4 Cs” (Compassion, Communication, Competence, and Charting). CCC+C’s protocol is quantitative and goal. The 4 Cs’ protocol is qualitative and subjective.
When sued, I make sure that each the plaintiff and protection attorneys perceive that CCC+C applies to me, alone, and to not any co-defendant named within the lawsuit. It not solely distinguishes me from them, it distinguishes a medical error from a random error-of-nature with 95 p.c confidence. CCC+C is peer reviewed and revealed in skilled journals, most not too long ago within the Healthcare Management and Administration Journal. Each attorneys come to know that, relating to me, this lawsuit is both frivolous, ensuing from an error-of-nature, or meritorious, ensuing from a medical error. If attributable to me, I conform to settle. If not, “deliver it on.” Days later, I’m dismissed with prejudice. CCC+C serves me simply high quality.
Howard Smith is an obstetrics-gynecology doctor.
