Medical malpractice claims can allow patients injured by a negligent physician or other health care provider to obtain fair compensation for the damage caused by the medical error. In 2012, a total of 12,142 medical malpractice payouts were made throughout the United States. This amounts to one claim every 43 minutes.
A significant number of the mistakes leading to malpractice claims occurred in New York. From 1999 to 2008, New York was one of the top states for claims and was the only state where malpractice filings remained nearly level.
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The following medical malpractice statistics demonstrate the extent of the medical negligence problem in New York:
- In 2008, 4,195 new medical malpractice cases were filed. New York and New Jersey were the only two states where the number of malpractice filings exceeded 1,000. (Court Statistics.org)
- There were 21.5 new medical malpractice claims in 2008 for every 100,000 people in New York. (Court Statistics.org)
- Medical malpractice cases accounted for 7.4 percent of tort cases and 1.1 percent of all civil lawsuits filed in the state in 2008. (Court Statistics.org)
- From 1999 to 2008, the number of medical malpractice claims in New York declined by just 1 percent. In neighboring states such as Connecticut and New Jersey, malpractice claims fell by 30 percent during this period. (Court Statistics.org)
- New York is one of the five states where 48 percent of all medical malpractice payouts were made in 2012. The others were Florida, New Jersey, California and Pennsylvania. (Diederich Healthcare)
- In 2012, $763,088,250 in medical malpractice payouts was made in New York. (Diederich Healthcare)
Data suggest that just 1 in 8 medical mistakes leads to a malpractice claim. Patients who suffer harm or individuals who lose loved ones due to medical errors may be entitled to compensation and should contact a New York medical malpractice lawyer for help.
General Medical Malpractice Statistics
Medical malpractice has a tremendous cost and causes death and injury to thousands each year.
- In 2010, the Office of Inspector General for Health and Human Services reported that poor care in hospitals contributed to 180,000 deaths among Medicare patients annually. (Scientific American)
- A new study in the Journal of Patient Safety estimates that between 210,000 and 440,000 patients die annually because of preventable mistakes in hospitals. (Scientific American)
- Medical errors are the third leading cause of death in America, following cancer and heart disease. (Scientific American)
- The median award for medical malpractice plaintiffs was $400,000 in 2005. This was significantly greater than the overall median award for personal injury plaintiffs, which was just $19,840. (Court Statistics.org)
- Paralysis and amputation cases had a median medical malpractice payout of $2,269,034. (Court Statistics.org)
- Cancer medical malpractice cases had a median medical malpractice payout of $1,105,000. (Court Statistics.org)
- A full 22 percent of medical malpractice cases were wrongful death cases where the victim was killed by the medical error. Wrongful death cases account for just 3 percent of other personal injury trials. (Court Statistics.org).
Medical malpractice has very serious consequences for victims. For more than three decades, attorneys at Ginarte Gonzalez Winograd L.L.P., have helped victims of medical errors get the compensation they deserve.
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If you think you might be the victim of medical malpractice, contact the Ginarte law firm today. Call 1-888-GINARTE (1-888-446-2783) now or use our online contact form. We will be happy to give you a comprehensive case review – absolutely free. We won’t charge you unless we recover compensation for you.