Did You Know

A Public Citizen analysis of the latest data from the federal National Practitioner Data Bank shows that jury verdicts are not out of control:

  • Total payments for malpractice judgments have fallen 24.5 percent, from $299.6 million in 2000 to $226.2 million in 2004.
  • The median payment resulting from a judgment appears to have risen, from $230,000 in 2000 to $265,000 in 2004.
  • The total number of judgments against physicians dropped 31.9 percent between 2000 and 2004, from 670 to 456.
  • The number of malpractice judgments against physicians, adjusted for population growth, has fallen 34.6 percent since 2000.