BACKGROUND Data are lacking on the proportion of physicians who face malpractice claims in a year, the size of those claims, and the cumulative career malpractice risk according to specialty. METHODS We analyzed malpractice data from 1991 through 2005 for all physicians who were covered by a large professional liability insurer with a nationwide client base (40,916 physicians and 233,738 phys...

Received September 5, 2007; revised November 13 and December 22, 2007, and February 25, 2008; accepted March 26, 2008. The authors are affiliated with the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. Address correspondence to Carol I. Ping Tsao, M.D., Medical College of Wisconsin, Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, 5000 W. National Ave, Milwauk...

Introduction/Background: Empathy is an essential component of compassionate care and has been associated with fewer medical errors, better patient outcomes and more satisfied patients. It also Results in fewer malpractice suits, better relationships and happier providers. A growing number of medical & nursing schools, professional organizations and licensing boards are developing requirements t...

This review aimed to discuss legal reviews related physician malpractice in medical practice. Malpractice is carrying out a profession wrongly or wrongly, which can only form responsibility for the maker if it results loss determined regulated by law. occur all kinds of professions, including profession. Mistakes will criminal civil liability (depending on nature consequences losses incurred) c...

Over recent years the professional role of the radiologist has been evolved due to the increasing involvement in the clinical management of the patient. Radiologists have thus been increasingly charged by new duties and liabilities, exposing them to higher risks of legal claims made against them. Malpractice lawsuits in radiology are commonly related to inappropriate medical care or to the poor...

OBJECTIVE To present 2 challenging cases of patients who request endocrine therapies that their physician considers to be outside of the standard of care. METHODS With these complex cases as a backdrop, we explore the constructs of medicine, malpractice law, and professional ethics that guide physicians' medical decision-making processes. RESULTS These cases illustrate a common conundrum fo...

A distinctive feature of medical malpractice law is its acceptance of medical custom as the dispositive legal standard of care. Outside the field of medical malpractice, long established legal doctrine accords limited weight to custom in defining the general standard of care in negligence cases.' In medical practice, by contrast, the legal standard of due care is virtually defined by the custom...

The role of expert witnesses in medical malpractice litigation is often misunderstood. Much maligned, the expert has been the subject of castigation by a range of people, from his professional colleagues to the jurists who preside over his testimony. From an academic perspective, the expert witness is a necessary evil, and his denigration is his own doing; for the expert is a neutral character ...