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Healthcare Liability/Damages Fast Facts

• Medical malpractice tort costs have grown since 1975 at an annual rate of 11.7 percent compared with 9.3 percent for all other U.S. tort costs. [“U.S Tort Costs,” Tillinghast-Towers Perrin, 2005]

• Medical liability tort costs accounted for $28.7 billion of the estimated $260 billion in total tort costs to the U.S. economy in 2004. [“U.S Tort Costs,” Tillinghast-Towers Perrin, 2005]

• Because of the fear of malpractice lawsuits, 79 percent of physicians order more tests than are medically necessary. [Harris Interactive, March 2002]

• “Defensive medicine,” additional tests and treatments medical providers perform to help avoid lawsuits, are estimated to cost $70 - $126 billion per year.  [“Addressing the New Health Care Crisis: Reforming the Medical Litigation System to Improve the Quality of Health Care,” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2003)

• A review of medical malpractice lawsuits found that 40 percent are groundless – meaning there is no evidence that a medical error was committed or that the patient suffered any injury. [Harvard School of Public Health, May 10, 2006]

• Liability pressures contributed to more than 90 percent of high-risk medical specialists deciding to stop providing certain services.  [American Medical Association, April 2003]