73% of all settled malpractice claims are from medical errors. 72% of medical malpractice claims are refused compensation. 54% of medical malpractice costs go towards litigation over errors and payment of them. 97% of malpractice claims were associated with injury and 73% of those were compensated. 3% of claims were not associated with injuries; of them, 16% got compensation. 63% were associated with errors; of them, 73% got compensation (average $521,560). Thirty-seven percent were not associated with errors; of them, 28% got compensation averaging $313,205. Claims not associated with errors accounted for 13-16% percent of the total costs. For every $1 spent on compensation, .54 went to administrative expenses (including lawyers, experts, and courts). Claims involving errors accounted for 78% of administrative costs.
A 2004 study of medical malpractice claims in the US examining primary care malpractice found that though incidence of negligence in hospitals produced a greater proportion of severe outcomes, the total number of errors and deaths due to errors were greater for outpatient settings. No single medical condition was associated with more than 5% of all negligence claims, and 1/3rd of all claims were the result of misdiagnosis.
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