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Are Juries Fair to Physicians?

By Linda S. Crawford

Medical malpractice cases are high-stakes events. Although defendants continue to prevail in two-thirds of trials, when the plaintiff wins, the median amount of the verdict is $1.2 million; and developing information indicates that that figure is rising at an alarming rate. See, e.g., Jury Verdict Research, LPR Publications, Horsham, PA, 2003, 2005. According to the National Practitioner Data Bank, there were 17,298 medical malpractice payments made in 2005, either in settlement or after verdict, with a median payment of $174,569 for physicians; obstetrical case payments had a median of $300,000. National Practitioner Data Bank 2005 Annual Report, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Heath Resources and Services Administration, 5600 Fishers Lane, Suite 84-55, Rockville, MD 20857, pg 23. Given how large the awards are when there is a verdict against a physician, many in the medical profession and their defense teams have come to believe that juries are random and unfair. The conventional wisdom seems to be that judge-made decisions are a safer bet for med-mal defendants. Is this true?

Comparing Medical Malpractice Verdicts and Other Verdicts

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