States with the Largest Medical Malpractice Payouts

Just five states account for almost half of all medical malpractice payouts, according to Diederich Healthcare. Plus, settlements were responsible for the vast majority of payouts.

Diederich analyzed records from the National Practitioner Data Bank in March 2013 and found that 93% of payouts were from settlements, rather than judgments.

According to Diederich’s analysis, in 2012 there were a total of 12,142 payouts costing $3.5 billion in payouts. However, there has been a steady decline in payout amounts since 2003 and the total payouts in 2012 was 3.4% lower than the payouts in 2011.

The highest percentage of malpractice allegations (33%) were diagnosis related, followed by surgery-related allegations (24%) and treatment-related allegations (18%). Diagnosis allegations had a total of $1.2 billion, according to Diedrich.

The severity of alleged injuries varied greatly, but the largest percentage of cases resulted in death (31%).

Payouts from just five states represented 48% of all payouts in 2012:

• New York ($763 million)

• Pennsylvania ($316 million)

• California ($223 million)

• New Jersey ($207 million)

• Florida ($204 million)

Go to the next page to see the 10 states with the highest per capita payouts in 2012.

10. Illinois

Per capita payout: $15.57

9. New Hampshire

Per capita payout: $17.02

8. Rhode Island

Per capita payout: $17.35

7. Maryland

Per capita payout: $19.40

6. Washington D.C.

Per capita payout: $19.71

5. Connecticut

Per capita payout: $21.01

4. Massachusetts

Per capita payout: $22.75

3. New Jersey

Per capita payout: $23.31

2. Pennsylvania

Per capita payout: $24.77

1. New York

Per capita payout: $38.99