Abstract
IntroductionPhysicians are increasingly practicing defensive medicine as a response to society’s litigious climate. This study sought to characterize cardiology malpractice claims and elucidate the allegations underlying the use of defensive medicine.MethodsThe WestlawNext™ database was queried to obtain state and federal jury verdicts and settlements related to medical malpractice and cardiology that occurred in the United States between 2010 and 2015. Cardiology cases were identified using the search terms “medical malpractice” and “cardiology” and reviewed by two individuals utilizing available case documents. Duplicate and nonpertinent cases were excluded. Binary logistic regression models were created to predict the likelihood of defendant verdict, plaintiff verdict, and settlement based on the various reasons for litigation cited.ResultsInclusion criteria were met in 166 cases. The plaintiffs were predominantly male (94 cases; 56.6%), and the average patient age was 53.3±17.5 years. More than half of the cases involved a cardiologist as a defendant. The most common reasons for litigation were: failure to treat (129; 77.7%), failure to diagnose (115; 69.3%), failure to refer/order diagnostic tests (107; 64.5%), and patient death (118; 71.1%). Among cases tried for failure to diagnose, the most commonly missed diagnosis was myocardial infarction. Cases most commonly resulted in a defendant verdict (94; 56.6%). However, odds of a plaintiff verdict were significantly higher when failure to diagnose was alleged with an odds ratio (OR) of 7.60 (95% confidence interval 1.14 - 50.87, p = 0.0365).ConclusionsFailure to diagnose remains a commonly alleged base for litigation. In conclusion, our analysis suggests increased training for non-cardiologists in the recognition of the acute coronary syndrome and enhanced awareness of inherent biases among all physicians may facilitate reducing missed diagnoses.
Highlights
ObjectivesOur goals were twofold: first, we sought to characterize the reasons for
Physicians are increasingly practicing defensive medicine as a response to society’s litigious climate
Among cases tried for failure to diagnose, the most commonly missed diagnosis was myocardial infarction
Summary
Our goals were twofold: first, we sought to characterize the reasons for. The primary goal of this study was to characterize reasons for litigation against cardiologists and to determine if they have remained static in the setting of a changing medicolegal landscape
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