Malpracticing docs likely to be repeat offenders

A small number of physicians with “distinctive characteristics” are responsible for a disproportionate amount of paid malpractice claims, according to a Stanford University Law study published in the New England Journal of Medicine on January 28.

The study, which analyzed over 66,000 claims against 54,099 physicians from 2005 to 2004, found that approximately 1% of all physicians accounted for 32% of paid claims.

Risks of recurrence for physicians who have a previous claim vary among specialties, the authors found. Neurosurgeons, for instance, are at a four times greater risk than psychiatrists of recurrence. Physicians who had more than three paid claims had a three times greater risk of incurring another claim.

Read the study here.