Patient Safety and Medical Malpractice

Tens of thousands of people die each year from preventable medical errors. But rather than reform the medical system to prevent needless deaths and injuries, the health care and insurance industries, as well as the Chamber of Commerce are lobbying to limit the rights of injured patients to seek full recovery in the courts.

They claim that their brand of “tort reform” will bring down costs and improve medical care. But the opposite is true. Ignoring patient safety and restricting patients’ fundamental legal rights will only further burden the health care system. Additional injuries caused by malpractice add to the nation’s mounting health care costs. Meanwhile, the wrongdoers are let off the hook because patients can no longer hold them accountable.  If we, as individuals, are likely be held responsible for bad acts that harm others, medical providers should be held to the same or even higher standards.

Policymakers should focus on protecting patients and reducing medical errors, not limiting patients’ rights.

Take Action for Patient Safety

• State Resources on Patient Safety and Medical Liability

More Resources on Patient Safety and Medical Liability

• Letters to Congress Calling for Investigation of HHS Failure to Report Its Medical Malpractice Payments to the NPDB, July 16, 2019
• Press Release: Arizona Nurse Arrested for Assault on Incapacitated Patient Highlights How Few Nurses Face Punishment for Abuse, January 23, 2019
• Crossing the Line: Sexual Misconduct by Nurses Reported to the National Practitioner Data Bank, December 17, 2018
• Press Statement: Patient Safety Threatened by HHS Refusal to Close Dangerous Loophole That Allows Health Care Providers to Evade Malpractice Reporting, Sept. 22, 2016
• New Health Research Group Study Examines Physician Sexual Misconduct in the National Practitioner Data Bank, Feb. 3, 2016
• Report: Medical Malpractice Payments Rose Slightly in 2013 as Liability Insurance Costs Declined, Oct. 22, 2014
• Letter to HHS Secretary Regarding the Agency’s Decision Requiring Reporting of All HHS Malpractice Payments to the National Practitioner Data Bank, Sept. 30, 2014
• Letter to HHS Secretary Regarding the Agency’s Decision Requiring Reporting of Malpractice Payments to the National Practitioner Data Bank Under Medical Malpractice Reforms in Oregon and Massachusetts, Aug. 12, 2014
• Petition to HHS to Close the Corporate Shield Loophole for Reporting Medical Practice Payments to the NPDB, May 29, 2014
• Letter to HHS Secretary Regarding Impact of Oregon Law on National National Practitioner Data Bank, September 10, 2013
• Letter to the House Opposing H.R. 5 Medical Liability Bill (PDF), March 19, 2012
• Medical Malpractice Payments 1991-2010: State Breakdown of Payments on Behalf of Doctors in Raw Numbers, Actual Dollars and Adjusted for Inflation, June 14, 2011
• Press Release: Malpractice Payments Plummeted in 2010- New Data Show Health Care Costs Are Not Linked to Lawsuits , May 24, 2011
• Press Release: Congressional Lawmakers Ignore Facts as They Push Measure to Further Punish Injured Patients , May 11, 2011
• Press Release: H.R. 5: A Medical Industry Handout and a Theft of Consumers’ Rights; Epidemic of Medical Errors Must Be Addressed , April 6, 2011
• Report: Defensive Medicine- The Doctored Crisis , March 30, 2011
• Press Release: In Medical Malpractice Bill, Health Industry Giveaway Will Increase Costs, Harm Patients , February 9, 2011
• Letter from Consumer and Patient Safety Groups Opposing H.R. 5 -Medical Liability Bill (PDF) , January 31, 2011
• Written Statement Submitted to the House Judiciary Committee for the Medical Liability Hearing Record (PDF), January 20, 2011
• Press Release: In Attempt to Limit Patients’ Rights, Republicans Trot Out Tired – and False – Arguments About Medical Liability, January 20, 2011
• Press Release: In Calling for Medical Liability Measure, House Republicans Ignore Real Problem, January 5, 2011
• Fact Sheet: Telling the Truth About Medical Malpractice, December 2, 2010
• Letter to Debt Commission- Re: Recommendation 3.3.12 Medical Malpractice Liability Reform, December 2, 2010
• Press Release: HHS Report Is a Wake-Up Call to Fix National Patient Safety Crisis, November 16, 2010
• Letter to the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform about Proposed Medical Liability Limits, November 12, 2010
• Report: Medical Malpractice Payments Fall Again in 2009, March 3, 2010
• Press Release: Medical Malpractice Payments Continue to Fall, Public Citizen Analysis Shows, March 3. 2010
• Fact Sheet: Setting the Record Straight on Medical Liability Limits: Tort “Reform” Hurts Patients, Costs Billions, and Shields Those Who Cause Harm (PDF), March 2010
• Letter to Congressional Leaders about Proposed Liability Limits in Health Care Reform (PDF), February 24, 2010
• Press Release: Public Citizen Implores Congress to Stand Up to Liability Insurers During Health Care Summit, February 24, 2010
• Fact Sheet: As Obama Health Care Summit Looms, Know This: Medical Malpractice Payments Are at an All-Time Low (PDF), February 22, 2010
• Press Release: Injured Medical Malpractice Survivors Travel to Washington, D.C., to Protect Patients’ Rights, October 21, 2009
• Press Release: President Obama Should Focus on Curbing Epidemic of Medical Errors, Not Shielding Those Responsible, September 9, 2009
• Report: Back to Basics: Ten Steps to Save 85,000 Lives and $35 Billion a Year in Health Care Delivery, August 6, 2009
• Press Release: Basic Patient Safety Reforms Would Save 85,000 Lives and $35 Billion a Year, Public Citizen Report Says, August 6, 2009
• Report: Medical Malpractice Payments Fall to Record Low, July 2, 2009
• Press Release: Medical Malpractice Payments Fall to Record Low, Public Citizen Study Shows, July 2, 2009
• Press Release: Reducing Accountability Is No Way to Lessen Health Care Costs, June 25, 2009
• Coalition Letter to Congress: To Control Health Care Costs, Reduce Medical Errors, Don’t Reduce Accountability for Liability, June 25, 2009
• Press Release: Bush Misleads Nation in State of the Union in Need for Medical Malpractice Limits, January 24, 2007
• Press Release: Bush Fear-Mongering on Ob-Gyn Access in Last Year’s State of the Union Belied by Facts, January 23, 2007
• Report: The Great Medical Malpractice Hoax: NPDB Data Continue to Show Medical Liability System Produces Rational Outcomes (PDF), January 10, 2007
• Press Release: Medical Malpractice Lawsuits Not the Cause of Health Care “Crisis,” Public Citizen Report Shows, January 10, 2007
• Press Release: Medical Malpractice Bills in Senate Are Affront to Justice, May 4, 2006
• Press Release: Doctors, Industry Groups Backing Proposal to Rob Injured Patients of Their Legal Rights Commit Factual Malpractice, September 8, 2005
• Report: Medical Malpractice Payout Trends 1991 ─ 2004: Evidence Shows Lawsuits Haven’t Caused Doctors’ Insurance Woes (PDF), April 19, 2005
• Press Release: New Report Finds No Link Between Spike in Doctors’ Insurance Rates and Medical Malpractice Lawsuits by Injured Patients, April 19, 2005
• Press Release: Health Insurers’ “Shark Bite” Ad Campaign Attacking Medical Negligence System Takes a Bite Out of the Truth, April 13, 2005
• Congressional Testimony by Sidney Wolfe, M.D., on Current Issues Related to Medical Liability Reform, February 10, 2005
• Press Release: Bush Economic Forum on U.S. Legal System Is a Rehash of Lies and Distortions From Election Campaign, December 15, 2004
• Press Release: Cheney’s Claims in V.P. Debate and New Bush-Cheney Medical Malpractice Ad Continue Campaign of Deception and Distortion, October 6, 2004
• Press Release: President Bush “Dis-Torts” the Truth About Impact of Lawsuits on Health Care and the Economy, August 11, 2004
• Report: Medical Malpractice Briefing Book: Challenging the Misleading Claims of the Doctors’ Lobby (PDF), August 2004
• Press Release: Fifth Vote on Malpractice Bill Follows Poor Health Care Quality Findings, May 12, 2004
• Press Release: Malpractice “Crisis” Not Reducing Access to Trauma Care, April 6, 2004
• Press Release: Bush Flip-Flop on Patients’ Bill of Rights May Have Been Driven by Campaign Donors, March 25, 2004
• Press Release: Public Citizen Invites Chamber Head to Debate Over Tort Ads, March 11, 2004
• Press Release: New Data Refute Link Between Medical Malpractice Lawsuits and OB/GYN Insurance Premium Hikes, February 23, 2004
• Press Release: Bush Heads for Bright Lights and Big Dollars in Vegas, Promoting Special-Interest Backed Medicare and Medical Malpractice Bills, November 25, 2003
• Press Release: Congressional Watchdog Agency Finds Claims of Malpractice Insurance “Crisis” Not Substantiated, September 4, 2003
• Press Release: Public Citizen Releases Database With Names of 293 “Questionable Doctors” in West Virginia – Most Still Practicing, July 29, 2003
• Press Release: Defeat of Medical Malpractice Bill in Cloture Vote is Victory for Consumers, July 9, 2003
• Press Release: New 2002 Government Data Dispute Malpractice Lawsuit “Crisis,” July 7, 2003
• Press Release: Sweeping Civil Justice Legislation is Anti-Consumer, Should Be Rejected, April 14, 2003
• Press Release: Capping Awards for Pain and Suffering Would Not Halt Increases in Malpractice Payouts, Study Shows, March 17, 2003
• Press Release: House Commits Malpractice Against Medical Victims, March 13, 2003
• Press Release: A Damage Cap Would Only Add to Malpractice Survivors’ Pain, February 11, 2003
• Press Release: Doctors’ Strike Violates Antitrust Laws, February 4, 2003
• Press Release: Medical Community, Insurers Should Stop Blaming Victims and Work to Decrease Medical Errors, January 23, 2003
• Press Release: Consumer Advocates Fire Back at Medical and Insurance Industries for Malpractice Crisis, January 9, 2003
• Press Release: Medical Errors, Not Lawsuits, are Real Cause of Rising Malpractice Insurance Premiums, January 9, 2003
• Press Release: Statement on Medical Malpractice by Sidney M. Wolfe, MD, Director, Public Citizen’s Health Research Group, January 9, 2003
• Press Release: Florida Patients Face Crisis in Medical Errors, National Consumer Advocate Tells Task Force on Medical Malpractice Insurance Rates, December 20, 2002
• Press Release: Five Percent of Doctors Responsible for Half of All Medical Malpractice, Study Finds, September 25, 2002
• Press Release: Medical Malpractice Premiums Not Only Rates to Increase, State Survey Shows; Other Types of Insurance Have Risen Too, July 30, 2002
• Press Release: Bush Administration Grandstanding on Medical Malpractice, Failing Patients in Need of Better Medical Care, July 25, 2002
• Press Release: Patients’ Bill of Rights Under Siege in New Corporate Ad Campaign, March 26, 1999

State Resources on Patient Safety and Medical Liability

• Press Release: Public Citizen to N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo: Reject Budgetary Measure That Would Severely Limit Patients’ Rights, March 21, 2011
• Report: Liability Limits in Texas Fail to Curb Medical Costs, December 17, 2009
• Press Release: Texas Experiment With Medical Liability Caps Has Failed, New Report Shows, December 17, 2009
• Report: A Self-Inflicted “Crisis”: New York’s Medical Malpractice Insurance Troubles Caused By Flawed State Rate Setting and Raid on Rainy Day Fund (PDF), November 29, 2007
• Press Release: Malpractice Victims Deserve Right to Seek Justice Through Courts, November 29, 2007
• Press Release: New York Should Look at Itself and its Doctors to Address Medical Malpractice Woes, November 29, 2007
• Press Release: State Government Responsible for Medical Malpractice Troubles in New York, New Report Shows, November 29, 2007
• Press Release: A Third of New York’s Worst Repeat Offender Doctors Continue to Practice Without Licensing Consequences, November 16, 2007
• Press Release: Public Citizen Survey Finds D.C. Medical Society Fabricated Obstetrician Shortage, January 5, 2006
• Press Release: Doctors’ Claim in New TV Ad, That Physicians Are Fleeing Washington State, Simply Doesn’t Add Up, October 11, 2005
• Report: Oregon’s Increased Number of Doctors: Government Data Refutes Medical Lobby Claims (PDF), August 5, 2004
• Press Release: Report Debunks So-Called Crisis of Doctors Fleeing Oregon; Number of Doctors Across State Has Increased, Not Declined, August 5, 2004
• Press Release: Pennsylvania Medical Society Admits It Lacks Facts to Support Scare Tactics Used in Medical Malpractice Debate, April 30, 2004
• Report: Medical Misdiagnosis in Oklahoma: Challenging the Medical Malpractice Claims of the Doctors’ Lobby (PDF), April 22, 2004
• Press Release: Oklahoma Doctors Not Facing a Medical Malpractice Insurance Crisis, Public Citizen Report Shows, April 22, 2004
• Report: Medical Misdiagnosis in Georgia: Challenging the Medical Malpractice Claims of the Doctors’ Lobby (PDF), March 31, 2004
• Press Release: Georgia Doctors Misdiagnose Malpractice Insurance “Crisis” – Spike Not Caused by Patient Lawsuits, Public Citizen Report Shows, March 31, 2004
• Report: The Facts About Medical Malpractice in Pennsylvania (PDF), March 5, 2004
• Press Release: Pennsylvania Doctors Not Facing a Medical Malpractice Insurance Crisis, Public Citizen Report Shows, March 5, 2004
• Report: The Facts About Medical Malpractice in Kentucky (PDF), February 4, 2004
• Press Release: Kentucky Doctors Not Facing a Medical Malpractice Insurance Crisis, Public Citizen Report Shows, February 4, 2004
• Press Release: Doctor March in Annapolis Misguided; “Repeat Offender” Doctors Are the Problem, Not Medical Malpractice Lawsuits, January 21, 2004
• Press Release: Public Citizen Report Describes Some of Maryland’s Dangerous Doctors as Physicians Gear Up for a March on Annapolis, January 15, 2004
• Report: The Facts About Medical Malpractice in Maryland (PDF), September 10, 2003
• Press Release: Maryland Doctors Do Not Face a Medical Malpractice Insurance Crisis, Public Citizen Report Shows, September 10, 2003
• Press Release: In Washington State, Medical Malpractice Lawsuits and Costs Have Not Increased; Limiting Citizen Access to Courts Is Wrong Cure, April 25, 2003
• Press Release: No Medical Malpractice “Crisis” in Washington State; Damage Caps Would Harm Those Most Injured, Wouldn’t Lower Rates, April 25, 2003
• Press Release: Doctors in the District of Columbia Do Not Face a “Crisis” in Medical Malpractice Insurance Costs, Public Citizen Report Shows, April 22, 2003
• Press Release: New Study Debunks Claims of a North Carolina Medical Malpractice Insurance “Crisis”, April 7, 2003
• Press Release: Public Citizen Clarifies Data in Pennsylvania Medical Malpractice Report, April 3, 2003
• Press Release: New Study Debunks Claims of an Impending Medical Malpractice Insurance “Crisis” in Rhode Island, April 1, 2003
• Press Release: Just 7 Percent of New York’s Doctors Are Responsible for Two-Thirds of Malpractice Payouts, Study Shows, March 10, 2003
• Press Release: Gov. Perry Has “Wrong Diagnosis, Wrong Prescription” for Malpractice Insurance Spikes, February 11, 2003
• Press Release: Medical Malpractice Insurance Premium Spikes in Texas a Result of Economic Cycle, Exacerbated by “Repeat Offenders,” Study Finds, February 10, 2003
• Press Release: Pennsylvania Medical Society Spots a Typo, But Can’t Counter Public Citizen’s Malpractice Facts, February 6, 2003
• Press Release: Medical Malpractice Insurance Premium Spikes in New Jersey a Result of Economic Cycle, “Repeat Offenders,” Study Finds, February 2, 2003
• Press Release: Public Citizen Calls on Arkansas Medical Board to Investigate “Repeat Offender” Doctors, January 28, 2003
• Press Release: Medical Malpractice Insurance Premium Spikes in Arkansas a Result of Economic Cycle, “Repeat Offender” Doctors, Study Finds, January 27, 2003
• Press Release: Medical Malpractice Insurance Crisis in Pennsylvania a Result of Economic Cycle, Doctors Who Err; Bush Administration Study Flawed, January 16, 2003
• Press Release: No Malpractice Crisis in Florida: Doctor Errors Greatly Exceed Lawsuits, Study Shows, September 17, 2002
• Press Release: Sham Crisis (in Florida) is Ploy by Insurance, Medical Lobbies to Strip Medical Victims’ Rights, September 17, 2002
• Press Release: Public Citizen Releases Database With Names of 557 “Questionable Doctors” in Georgia – Most Still Practicing, August 28, 2002