The Receding Tide of Medical Malpractice Litigation: Part 1 — National Trends
Abstract:
The United States has experienced three medical malpractice (med mal) crises in the past 40 years. In response, 31 states now have caps on noneconomic or total damages. Researchers have studied the impact of these caps, relative to control states without caps, but have not studied trends in no‐cap states or overall national trends. We find that the per‐physician rate of paid med mal claims has been dropping for 20 years and in 2012 was less than half the 1992 level. Lawsuit rates, in the states with available data, are also declining, at similar rates. “Small” paid claims (payout < $50,000 in 2011 dollars) have been dropping for the full period; “large” paid claims (payout ≥ $50,000) have been dropping since 2001. Payout per large paid claim was roughly flat. Payouts per physician have been dropping since 2003, and by 2012 were 48 percent below their 1992 level. The “third wave” of damage cap adoptions over 2003–2006 contributed to this trend, but there are also large declines in no‐cap states.
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Paik, Myungho and Black, Bernard S. and Hyman, David A., The Receding Tide of Medical Malpractice Litigation: Part 1 — National Trends (December 2013). Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, Vol. 10, Issue 4, pp. 612-638, 2013.
Abstract:
We study the effect of damage caps adopted in the 1990s and 2000s on medical malpractice claim rates and payouts. Prior studies found some evidence that caps reduce payout per claim, but mixed and weak evidence on whether caps reduce paid claim rates and payout per physician. However, most prior studies do not allow for the gradual phase‐in of damage caps, which usually apply only to lawsuits filed after the reform’s effective date, or only to injuries after the effective date. Once we allow for phase‐in, we find strong evidence that damage caps reduce both claim rates and payout per claim, with a large combined impact on payout per physician. The drop in claim rates is concentrated in claims with larger payouts – the ones that we expect to be most affected by a damages cap. Stricter caps have larger effects. Some prior studies also find a large impact of tort reforms other than damage caps. Once we allow for phase‐in, we find that these other reforms have no significant impact on either claim rates or payout per claim.
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Paik, Myungho and Black, Bernard S. and Hyman, David A., The Receding Tide of Medical Malpractice Litigation: Part 2 — Effect of Damage Caps (December 2013). Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, Vol. 10, Issue 4, pp. 639-669, 2013.
First posted 2013-10-24 18:58:41
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