Malpractice Litigation: The Elephant in the Reading Room.

Abstract

Seven percent of radiologists in the United States are sued each year for alleged medical malpractice [1], with radiologists on average spending 10% of their professional careers with looming malpractice claims [2]. The implications are manifold. Malpractice lawsuits are strongly associated with not only physician burnout—which is now endemic—but also depression and suicide [3]. And as medical expenditures continue to soar, the costs of defensive medicine, and particularly defensive imaging [4], cannot be ignored.