Only 3% of Medical Malpractice Incidents Result In Malpractice Suits

Overlooked amid the ongoing clamor that Americans give up their constitutional rights and accept damages caps in medical malpractice lawsuits are studies finding that only about 3% of the actual incidents of malpractice result in a lawsuit. In an interesting and thoughtful discussion of health insurance reform by David Leonhardt in the New York Times, Medical Malpractice System Breeds More Waste, the rarity of the malpractice suit is mentioned: only about 3% of the actual incidents of malpractice result in a lawsuit. The article links to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine that reaches these findings, Relation Between Malpractice Claims and Adverse Events Due to Negligence.