Claims and Court Cases

Abstract

It has to be said at the outset that there is no formal source of information on the extent of medical malpractice claims or on the outcome of such claims. Any figures which are published relate to personal injury claims and litigation generally and there is no separate reference to medical malpractice. The Defence Societies who insure doctors against claims and offer advice and legal assistance do not, as a matter of policy, disclose to the public the number of claims made against doctors, nor the number of settlements made or claims resisted through litigation. The basis for the policy must be that it is not good for the public to know the extent of malpractice claims, even though at the same time the Medical Defence Union, the largest medical defence society, has recently complained in its 1982 Annual Report of a “significant increase” in claims made and compensation paid out.