Four Common Myths about Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice lawsuits receive a tremendous amount of news coverage when there are large verdicts involved. When there is a lot of publicity about a verdict in the millions of dollars, the general public might begin to get a distorted idea about the truth when it comes to real world medical malpractice lawsuits.

Clearly there are many myths about medical malpractice in the minds of the public. As Washington, D.C. medical malpractice attorneys, we have heard a lot of them over the years – and we want to dispel a few of those myths now. The more other consumers understand about the truth about medical negligence, the better served they will be should they require the services of a medical malpractice attorney in the future.

Myth: Most medical malpractice lawsuits are frivolous.

Medical malpractice lawsuits are not frivolous because a plaintiff must be able to demonstrate, with the evidence they have collected, that a direct line of causation from their injury to the doctor’s negligent actions or failure to act exists. If a case does not exist, an attorney will not attempt to try it – period. All that would do is cause harm to victims around the country.

Physicians and other medical professionals owe a duty of care to their patients to take actions that are consistent with an accepted standard of care for their specialty and in their geographic area. When a medical professional’s conduct deviates significantly from the local accepted standard of care and it causes injury to the patient, the patient may have grounds to file a medical malpractice lawsuit to recover damages. Grave, preventable medical errors are the third leading cause of death in this country according to a Johns Hopkins Medicine study at roughly 250,000 deaths each year from medical mistakes. If even half of the surviving family members of the victims filed lawsuits, it might collapse our civil justice system.

Myth: Medical malpractice drives up the cost of health care in this country.

Yes, medical doctors, just like other service professionals, must purchase malpractice insurance that will protect them in case of a malpractice claim. However, the cost of malpractice insurance is in no way driving up the cost of healthcare. Even doctors admit their insurance premiums are not rising at an unfair rate.

The real causes of health care costs are rising administrative bills and prescription drugs, neither or which have anything to do with medical malpractice insurance or lawsuits.

Myth: Medical malpractice lawsuits are easy and can be filed for any reason.

The truth is that medical malpractice lawsuits are quite complex and they require an intense amount of time and energy to prepare for trial. Attorneys who take on medical malpractice lawsuits often take these cases on a contingency fee basis, which means that they do not charge the client any legal fees until they have secured either a settlement or a verdict in their favor. Medical malpractice attorneys must advance the cost of hiring expert witnesses, and doing extensive research in preparation for the trial. We would not put forth such expenses if we knew there was no case: it would be unfair to the client to string him or her along, and a waste of resources.

Myth: Plaintiffs who win medical malpractice lawsuits are often awarded huge verdicts, which inspires others to file groundless claims.

According to an article in Forbes, only about 15% of personal injury lawsuits filed each year involve medical malpractice claims, and more than 80% end with no payment to the injured patient or their surviving family. ScienceBasedMedicine.org reports that despite the horror stories we hear in the media about huge judgements, most medical malpractice suits never go to trial. Most cases are dismissed or settled out of court. In cases that made it to trial, in only about 2 percent of cases did the jury find in favor of the plaintiff.