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Medical Malpractice Payments Fall to Record Low, Public Citizen Study Shows

Medical Malpractice Epidemic Persists Even as Compensation to Victims Decreases

Medical malpractice payments were at or near record lows in 2008, but the decline almost certainly indicates that a lower percentage of injured patients received compensation, not that health safety has improved. Medical malpractice is so common, and litigation over it so rare, that between three and seven Americans die from medical errors for every one who receives a payment for any malpractice claim, Public Citizen’s analysis of medical malpractice payment data and the best available patient safety estimates indicate.

• READ our report.
• READ our press release.
• READ the statement of David Arkush, director of Congress Watch.
• READ our coalition letter to Congress
• READ our coalition letter to the Senate Finance Committee.

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