Fort Myers Medical Malpractice Lawyer
An accountant may make a mistake on a client’s tax return, which ends up in an audit and the loss of that client in the future. A retail worker may accidentally ring someone up for the wrong price, resulting in an overcharge or undercharge. Everyone makes mistakes on the job, but most of those mistakes, however catastrophic, are not usually life and death mistakes. Despite their best efforts and intentions, doctors, just like the rest of us, are not infallible. Unfortunately, the errors that physicians and other health care experts make often end in serious injury, prolonged illness due to a misdiagnosis, or even death. And, as it turns out, a large percentage of doctors end up with medical malpractice claims against them if they have been in the profession long enough. Contact our experienced Fort Myers medical malpractice lawyers for more information.
How Often do Doctors Face Medical Malpractice Claims?
A study that took place from 1991 through 2005, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, analyzed data on 40,916 physicians from 25 different specialties. The combined time of practice during that 15 year span (between the 40,916 physicians) was 233,738 years (quite a few millennia before the first humans came to North America), which gives a very accurate representation of how many medical malpractice cases are brought up against an average physician in a given year. The researchers found that, each year, 7.4 percent of physicians had a claim against them, and each year 1.6 percent of physicians had a claim that led to a payment. The statistical likelihood of an ordinary physician completing a 25-year-long career without a single medical malpractice claim against them is incredibly small. However, the riskier the field that a physician practiced in, the more likely they were to have a claim against them. Indeed, 19.1 percent of neurosurgeons had a claim against them every year, 18.9 percent of thoracic cardiovascular surgeons had a claim against them every year, and 15.3 percent of general surgeons had a claim against them each year. On the other side, only 5.2 percent of physicians practicing family medicine only a claim each year, 3.1 percent of pediatrics had claims against them each year, and only 2.6 percent of psychiatrists had claims against them each year.
Researchers found that, by the age of 65, the average low risk physician (such as family, psychiatry, and pediatric doctors) had a 75 percent chance of facing a medical malpractice claims, while 99 percent of physicians practicing in high risk areas had faced medical malpractice claims. The average indemnity payment was $274,887, while the median (half above and half below) payment was $111,749. Payments varied widely based on the type of medicine being practiced. For example, the average payment for a dermatologist was $117,832, while the average payment in a medical malpractice claim for a pediatrician was $520,923. Contact the most popular Fort Myers personal injury lawyers for assistance.
Contact Our Fort Myers Medical Malpractice Lawyers for Help
If you or a loved one has suffered an injury or illness due to a doctor’s mistake, don’t hesitate to contact an experienced Fort Myers medical malpractice lawyer with The Pendas Law Firm at 1-844-200-0000 today. We will help you fight for your rights to recover compensation.
