What's the average medical malpractice settlement?

Yes, the majority of medical malpractice lawsuits will settle out-of-court, for good reason. Medical malpractice lawsuits are 1. very expensive to investigate and prosecute, and 2. very time consuming to litigate. For victims of medical negligence, it is often unreasonable to wait potentially years for a court decision and jury award.

However, for those who do fight a medical malpractice case all the way to court, a successful outcome can pay off handsomely. While the average out-of-court settlement is around $500,000, recent trends have brought the average jury award up to just over $4.5 Million, and over half of jury awards are over $1 Million.

So Why Settle?

Accepting a settlement offer in a medical malpractice case is essentially a guarantee that the plaintiff will be paid. Should a plaintiff reject all settlement offers and proceed to trial, there is the possibility of losing the case in court and receiving nothing.

It's a fine balance of negotiating a fair settlement and avoiding unnecessary risk of going to trial that makes one medical malpractice attorney more successful than another.

Lawsuits Against Hospitals vs. Doctors

Another factor determining the settlement amount is whether an individual doctor is the one being sued, or the hospital that treated the patient. Juries are much more likely to find a hospital liable for malpractice than a doctor. Statistics show that lawsuits aginst hospitals are successful 50% of the time in trial, vs only %33 for lawsuits against individual doctors.

Additionally, the average hospital payout for a medical malpractice lawsuit is just over $6 million, vs. about $2.65 Million for a malpractice suit against a doctor.

Caps on Awards

Some states, most notably California and Texas, have place caps on the amount of money that can be awarded a medical malpractice plaintiff for pain and suffering. While no state has any caps on other damages such as medical expenses, lost income and lost future earnings, pain and suffering often makes up the largest part of an award.

The caps are designed to lower the premiums for medical malpractice insurance, and thus, lower the overall cost of health care. Whether or not it has been effective is up for debate. What is certain is that many victims of medical malpractice have been denied legal assistance because the award may not be enough for a lawyer to justify the cost of prosecuting the lawsuit. This is especially true in cases involving children, or birth injury cases, because there are no earnings lost for which to seek compensation.