The State of Medical Malpractice Payouts

I have written a few articles and blog posts about medical malpractice.  A company recently published a study of medical malpractice claims from 2012.  Some interesting findings are:

 

• New York had the highest dollar amount of total payouts for 2012, $763,088, 250. 
• 48% of all payouts came from only 5 states (New York, New Jersey, California, Florida and Pennsylvania). 
• The vast majority of payouts were from settlements; only 5% of payouts made it to trial and were received from a judgement. 
• Texas and North Dakota had the lowest, per capita payouts.
• The highest percentage of malpractice claims were due to failure to diagnose.
 

A link to that study can be found here:
Diederich Heatlhcare 2013 Medical Malpractice Payout Analysis.
http://www.diederichhealthcare.com/medical-malpractice-insurance/2013-medical-malpractice-payout-analysis/

Links to some of my articles on Medical Malpractice:

Bailey, R.  Resident Liability in Medical Malpractice. Annals of Emergency Medicine (January 2013).

http://www.annemergmed.com/article/S0196-0644(12)00409-X/abstract

 

Bailey, R. Medical Liability Reform: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. What’s Up in Emergency Medicine (June 2011). https://www.emra.org/content.aspx?id=583

 

Bailey, R. The Litigators Lions Pit: The Top 10 Medical Malpractice Issues Every Resident Should Know. What’s Up in Emergency Medicine (March 2011).

http://www.emra.org/content.aspx?id=597

Patient Sues Hospital, Nurse and EM Doctor for Malpractice for Being Left on a Bedpan Too Long

A patient in Louisiana filed a lawsuit for being left on a bedpan too long.  The patient arrived to the Emergency Room with a chief complaint of severe headache, dizziness, nausea and vomiting. At some point during his ER stay, the patient was given an enema, placed on a bedpan and then given medication that made him fall asleep.  Apparently he stayed on the bedpan for over 4 hours, subsequently developed swelling and pain of both lower extremities and was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis of both lower extremities.

 

I am interested in finding more details about this case and also interested in following the arguments and ruling.  My biggest question, how would the doctor know that the patient has been stuck on the bedpan if he didn't place it there himself?

 

Barnett K. Man sues hospital that allegedly left him on bedpan for over four hours. The Louisiana Record. February 12, 2013. http://louisianarecord.com/news/249019-man-sues-hospital-who-allegedly-left-him-on-bedpan-for-over-four-hours