Jacksonville Medical Malpractice Law Firm

Medical Malpractice Statistics

Medical malpractice is a type of personal injury situation that gets a lot of attention from many businesses and organizations around the country. Researchers put a lot of effort into finding out exactly how widespread medical malpractice situations really are. Some of the research looks at medical malpractice cases that were brought to trial, and some focuses specifically on successful or unsuccessful outcomes. Other studies look at the statistics for all patients harmed in a medical environment to see what kinds of medical malpractice present the greatest risks.

A basic statistical finding in 2004 was that although hospital malpractice cases tended to relate to more severe injuries, the majority of medical malpractice cases involved outpatient facilities such as doctor's offices. A great many of these claims involved misdiagnosis, but researchers found that many different kinds of personal injury situations made up the general category of medical malpractice claims.

One of the most often cited statistics on medical malpractice comes from the Institute of Medicine, an organization that is part of the National Academy of Sciences. The IOM concluded in 1999 that medical errors accounted for injuries in nearly 100,000 patients annually in the United States. Another industry report published in 2003 in the Journal of the American Medical Association held medical errors responsible for up to 200,000 fatalities annually in the years between 2000 and 2002.

Another statistic from 2006 illustrates the role of medication errors in medical malpractice. According to updated results, up to 1.5 million people are affected by medication errors annually, making it a disproportionately large part of personal injuries classified as medical malpractice. This statistic included hospitals, residential care facilities, and outpatient venues. The statistics on medication errors show what a large emphasis is placed on pharmacology in modern medicine.

As these numbers trouble the nation, Florida medical malpractice stats show how medical malpractice occurs in the state. The industry researcher Healthgrades has provided results using a National Practitioner Data Bank that show 1,351 medical malpractice payment claims against physicians in 2003, suggesting a rate of over 1000 medical malpractice claims per year.

Please contact a skilled Jacksonville medical malpractice attorney at Farah and Farah today, if you have been the victim of medical negligence or malpractice in Florida.