While New York is not one of the states that gives protection to medical professionals who apologize for a medical error, some facilities and practitioners around the country have noted that saying “I’m sorry” often reduces the risk of a lawsuit. In the past, the more common practice has been denial, but apologizing is becoming more common.
NYC Health + Hospitals, a public benefit corporation that operates several clinics and public hospitals in New York City, paid out $124 million to plaintiffs in medical malpractice complaints in 2015. The total amount that it paid was a drop from the $133 million that it paid to injured patients in 2014. However, medical malpractice claims against the organization rose from 536 to 552 in 2015.
According to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), the third leading cause of death in the United States is medical negligence, right behind heart disease and cancer. In 2012, more than $3 billion was spent in medical malpractice payouts, meaning that there is an average of one payout every 43 minutes. It is estimated that approximately 200,000 patients are killed each year as a result of medical errors.
When it comes to medical malpractice claims, the estimates of success rates vary, but it has been found that 20 percent to 30 percent of injured persons in these types of cases prevail. According to the highest estimates, a third of medical malpractice cases are decided in favor of the plaintiff, or the patient.
New York residents might be surprised to learn that patients who are deemed “difficult” by doctors are at increased risk for a misdiagnosis, according to two new studies published in the journal BMJ Quality and Safety. Researchers say the reason is that physicians faced with difficult patients are more likely to be distracted from their clinical work, particularly when dealing with complex medical cases.
In 2014, statistics showed that the rate of ectopic pregnancy was 19.7 cases per 1,000 pregnancies in North America and it is one of the leading causes of maternal mortality in the first trimester. 9% of all pregnancy deaths are caused by an ectopic pregnancy.
Cancer is one of the major causes of death in the United States as well as across the globe. In 2012, there were 14 million new cancer cases and 8.2 million cancer-related deaths worldwide. Statistics reveal that there will be an estimated 1,685,210 new cases of cancer in the United States and 595,690 deaths caused by the disease in 2016. Within the next two decades, the number of new cancer cases will rise to 22 million.
An estimated 440,000 people in the United States are killed every year by hospital, physician, or nurse errors. Medical errors rank third among the most common causes of death in the country. According to the US Bureau of Justice Statistics, approximately 50% of all the medical malpractice cases that are pursued by patients are against their surgeons.
According to the Institute of Medicine, every year, about 100,000 fatalities are caused by medical errors. It was reported in a 2006 New England Journal of Medicine article that approximately 97 percent of medical malpractice claims are a result of injury. According to further data, medication prescription and administration errors account for over 1.5 million personal injuries every year.
A New York resident who spends time in the hospital is likely to be treated by a hospitalist at some point. Although this specialty has only been around for approximately 20 years, the role of the hospitalist is prominent in patient care. This party typically acts much like a primary care physician in overseeing and coordinating the involvement of other specialists during a patient’s stay.
