Malpractice Suits Against Ob/Gyns Continue Downward Trend

Nearly 80% of obstetrician-gynecologists report having been named in at least one malpractice claim, but the total number who report such suits has fallen steadily since 2017, according to the Medscape Ob/Gyn Malpractice Report 2021.

Ob/gyns were the fifth most likely among practitioners in 29 specialties to be sued, and they are much more likely than the typical physician to be party to a malpractice case (51%), according to the new report. However, the number of ob/gyns who reported a malpractice suit has been dropping, from 85% in 2017 to 83% in 2019 to 79% in 2021. In most cases, multiple parties were named in the lawsuit (64%), although 27% of ob/gyns reported having been sued individually.

The most common reasons for lawsuits were complications from treatment/surgery (39%), poor outcome/disease progression (30%), failure to diagnose/delayed diagnosis (25%), patients suffering an abnormal injury (17%), and failure to treat/delayed treatment (16%).

The 2021 report was compiled from an online survey that included more than 4300 physicians representing 29 specialties; the survey was available from May 21 to August 28, 2021. Respondents include 314 ob/gyns. Most respondents had been in practice at least 25 years (60%), and 55% were at least 60 years old.

Ob/gyns carry higher malpractice insurance costs than nearly every other medical specialty, owing to the unique challenges and inherent risks of delivering newborn babies. In 2021, 33% of ob/gyns reported paying at least $30,000 in annual premiums, and only 27% said they paid less than $20,000. Over half of all specialists (52%) paid less than $20,000 in annual insurance premiums.

More than 70% of ob/gyns were “very” (32%) or “somewhat” surprised (40%) by their malpractice suits. A large majority said they believed the lawsuit was unwarranted (78%). One respondent wrote: “Feeling like I had done my best for the patient and she sued me anyway.”

Many cases settled before trial (40%), although some (12%) were still in process at the time of the survey. Other outcomes ranged from a judge or jury ruling on behalf of the physician (8%) or the lawsuit being dismissed within a few months of filing (8%). Ob/gyns reporting having lost 2% the suits.

The largest proportion of cases took less than 2 years (39%), although almost as many cases (33%) lasted between 3 and 5 years. Monetary awards to plaintiffs exceeded $1 million in 15% of cases that resulted in economic damages, with 8% of these awards exceeding $2 million. One in 5 awards were between $500,000 and $1 million.

Most ob/gyns (67%) say the lawsuit did not negatively affect their career. Roughly 1 in 5 ob/gyns (21%) said they now trusted their patients less than they did before the suit, modestly fewer than specialists overall (24%).

The largest proportion of ob/gyns (44%) say they would not have done anything differently, almost identical to the proportion of physicians overall (43%). Approximately 10% of ob/gyns said they would never have taken the patient in the first place, while 9% said they should have developed better chart documentation, and 8% said they should have referred the patient to another physician.

Marcus A. Banks, MA, is a journalist based in New York City who covers health news with a focus on new cancer research. His work appears in Medscape, Cancer Today, The Scientist, Gastroenterology and Endoscopy News, Slate, TCTMD, and Spectrum.

For more news, follow Medscape on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

Source: Read Full Article