National Medical Malpractice Statistics

Medical malpractice is one of the leading causes of death and serious injury in the US. In fact, medical errors are the sixth leading cause of death in America. As a largely preventable source of death and injury, medical errors are unwarranted and inexcusable.

Impacting the health of untold numbers of Americans, medical malpractice is a widespread problem. About one in three Americans has experienced, or have a family member who has experienced medical malpractice. According to a February, 2011 report from the American Association for Justice:

• Preventable medical errors kill about 98,000 Americans each year.
• Hundreds of thousands of Americans are seriously injured each year as a result of medical errors.
• About 15 million incidents of medical error occur each year.
• About 40 wrong site, wrong side and wrong patient surgical errors occur every week.
• About 18 percent of hospital patients are injured at some point in their care.

Very few patients injured by medical malpractice ever file a suit. The majority of patients who have been injured by medical malpractice never report their injuries. Patients who do file a claim mostly want their negligent healthcare providers to be held accountable; the desire for monetary compensation tends to be secondary to accountability.

Most often, doctors do not tell their patient when a medical error has occurred. In fact, about half of America's doctors have admitted to letting medical errors go unreported. As someone who has been injured by medical malpractice, you may be entitled to compensation for your injury.

If you or a loved one has been injured because of a medical error in Philadelphia or Lancaster, please contact the experienced medical malpractice lawyers in Pennsylvania at Atlee, Hall & Brookhart to schedule a free initial consultation.