REVEALED: Map shows the states where doctors are most likely to botch your surgery
If you have to have surgery soon, you don’t want to be in Louisiana
And stay away from Wyoming, Colorado and Oregon, according to a new analysis.
RP Legal Group has studied over half a million adverse action reports (AARs) nationwide over the past decade.
AARs are what healthcare organizations or states use to report suspected cases of medical malpractice against doctors, dentists or other healthcare providers.
The analysis looked at the number of reports in a state per 100,000 residents and found Louisiana averaged about 29 reports per 100,000 from 2013 to 2023.
The state was followed by Wyoming, with a rate of 26.2 AARs per 100,000 residents, and Colorado with a rate of 25.6 reports.
The top five was completed by Oregon (23 AARs) and Oklahoma (22.5 AARs per 100,000 residents).
Between 2013 and 2023, the NPDB recorded approximately 513,270 negative reports, with payouts totaling nearly $43 million.
Medical malpractice can include errors or mistakes made during surgeries or procedures, including operating on the wrong part of the body and leaving medical devices and supplies with patients after surgery.
According to the New York Bar Association, malpractice occurs “when a physician, health care professional, hospital, or other health care facility fails to care for a person in accordance with the accepted standards of the medical profession and the person is injured, becomes ill, or suffers a condition or illness. this makes the disease worse.’
Complaints can be submitted by patients themselves or on behalf of patients who have died as a result of suspected malpractice.
Malpractice claims have resulted in payouts to injured patients and their families totaling hundreds of millions of dollars.
In Louisiana, approximately 3,000 payments were made by insurance companies, health care organizations or health care providers over the past decade.
But despite ranking first in the nation, Louisiana has seen an 18 percent decline in the number of AARs filed since 2013.
The report shows that no region in the US is safe from medical malpractice, with the highest errors in states across the country, including the West, Midwest, South and Northeast.
Robert Rikard, of RP Legal Group, said: ‘These figures are incredibly high and highlight a problem within healthcare systems and protocols that need to be reexamined to prevent malpractice.
‘Any form of negligence within healthcare should raise alarm bells, especially as a lot of collateral damage can occur.’
At the other end of the scale, Hawaii had the lowest medical malpractice rate. The state saw an average of 62 reports between 2013 and 2023 – a rate of just 4.3 reports per 100,000 people.
This was followed by New York, with a rate of 5.5, and Idaho with a rate of 7.4 AARs per 100,000 residents.
Rounding out the five states with the lowest AAR rates were Georgia (7.5 per 100,000) and Connecticut (7.6 per 100,000).
According to the New York Bar Association, malpractice occurs “when a physician, health care professional, hospital, or other health care facility fails to care for a person in accordance with the accepted standards of the medical profession and the person is injured, becomes ill, or suffers a condition or illness. disease worsens as a result
One of the largest payouts in American history was $261 million. In the “Take Care of Maya” case made famous by Netflix, a Florida jury has ordered a hospital to pay damages to a family accused of abusing their daughter and barring her from seeing her during her treatment for chronic pain.
The lawsuit alleged that the 10-year-old child was touched against her will and placed under video surveillance as her symptoms worsened and she became wheelchair-bound.
Another major payout included a $172 million verdict in New York after it was determined that paramedics gave bad advice to a woman whose daughter was in anaphylactic shock, a severe allergic reaction that causes difficulty breathing, swelling of the throat, increased heart rate and lifelong can cause consequences. -threatening.
The delay in treatment left the girl with severe brain damage and paralysis.
In a case of medical malpractice in childbirth, a family was awarded $97 million after a doctor delayed a woman’s birth and was forced to resort to using forceps and a vacuum extractor to deliver her son.
The complications led to the child suffering a massive skull fracture, extensive brain bleeding and a lack of oxygen.
As a result, he was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and several other developmental and brain disorders. He is now four years old and requires 24 hour care, and will continue to do so.
While Mr Rikard said it was difficult to pinpoint the exact cause of the medical mishaps, he said the errors could stem from a lack of care or a tendency to rush care, inexperience among healthcare providers or negligence.
He added: ‘Practitioners and healthcare workers should ensure they have thorough training and are abreast of developments in the healthcare system to reduce potential malpractice.’
A previous similar analysis speculated that population size could also have led to more cases in certain states, because doctors could be responsible for more patients.
Understaffing and burnout can also be factors.
A 2023 Athenahealth survey found that more than 90 percent of physicians in America reported feeling burned out on a regular basis, while 60 percent said they have considered leaving the profession entirely.