Physician Lawsuits

Some articles and data on physician lawsuits:

"On average, physicians can expect to incur legal costs of more than $25,000 for every claim against them." This is regardless of the actual result of the claim. "For cases that go to trial, a physician's average legal bill can reach $140,000 or more, even if he or she ends up winning the case."
AMA - Health Liability Reform

"42.2 percent of physicians surveyed over the 2007 to 2008 field period had a medical liability claim filed against them at some point in their career. An average of 95 claims were filed for every 100 physicians, almost one per physician, and more than 20 percent of physicians were sued two or more times. Five percent had been sued in the prior 12 month period."
AMA - Medical Liability Claims 2007 To 2008

More than 35 percent of malpractice cases didn't involve any errors. Outcome of a case is biased toward how badly the patient was hurt, not how badly the mistake was (or if there was one). 10 percent of physicians involved in a malpractice case contemplated suicide.
Fighting Darwin - Malpractice Suicide