General surgeons are 30% more reported than cardiologists - Code List

Source: , Posted On:   15 May 2022

 

Three out of ten patient malpractice lawsuits are for misdiagnosis

This is the list in the order indicated by the investigation. Photo: Medscape.

The doctors hospitals receive 10 percent more than demands for medical malpractice than Primary Care. Among the former, general surgeons are the ones who suffer most demands. They are 30 percent more likely to be sued for a ruling than cardiologists and 20 percent more likely than radiologists.

“Because there is generally no long-term, ongoing relationship between a surgeon and a patient, and the fact that these doctors assume, in general, high-risk procedures, puts surgeons at greater risk of litigation compared to other specialties,” says one of the lawyers participating in this study on demands for medical negligence.

A medical malpractice lawsuit from a patient directly affects the healthcare professional, both their time, reputation and mental health, regardless of the outcome. Approximately half of the doctors they are sued at least once in their entire career.

This is revealed by the ‘Medscape 2021 Medical Malpractice Report’, which also reflects that the number of demands It varies a lot depending on the specialty.

Types of Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

Failure to diagnose and complications from failure to treat are the biggest reasons patients sue their doctor for malpractice. Specifically, the first reason accounts for 31 percent of the demands and, the second, 29 percent.

They are followed by the worsening of the disease after a treatment indicated by the doctor (this reason concentrates 26 percent of the demands); lack of treatment or therapy that is late (16 percent of demands); wrongful death (13 percent); and that the patient suffers an “abnormal injury” (11 percent).

On the other hand, the less common grounds for medical malpractice lawsuits are: poor professional documentation of the patient’s illness (4 percent of demands); medication administration errors (3 percent); lack of informed consent (2 percent); and, lastly, for non-compliance with security procedures (1 percent of the demands).