If you need to find personal injury attorneys Florida might be your best bet these days. Sunshine, elderly people, and apparently a whole lot of medical malpractice is what you can expect to find in the state of Florida these days. A new study by Aon Risk Solutions and the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management has found that the Sunshine State’s future is not very bright for medical professionals as it has the highest loss rate when it comes to settling medical malpractice claims, according to the South Florida news site BizJournals.com.
The average person waits about 16.5 months before filing a medical malpractice suit, chances are that number is much lower in Florida though. Compared to the national average the average cost of settling and defending medical malpractice personal injury lawsuits in Florida is 2.9 times greater. The works out to be about $8,190 per suit, which means plenty of money for people and injury attorneys, but a potential disaster for the states healthcare industry. When it comes to personal injury cases about 96% are settled pretrial and 93% of medical malpractice are.
“It?s a high expense item compared to others states and it hurts the health care mission of providing a high level of care,” said Erik Johnson, director and actuary of Aon Global Risk Consulting.
Not only does this lead to many doctors deciding not to set up practices of their own, which promotes competition and is good for the economy, but it also increases the likelihood doctors will perform things like extra tests that aren’t really necessary just to ensure themselves protection. This ultimately leads to higher costs for the end patient.
“In such a high-risk venue?the fear of malpractice litigation where such large claims are waiting drives the practice of defensive medicine,” Johnson said. “That is extra tests to be ultra safe for the fear of medical malpractice litigation, and that is not efficient medicine.”
The average amount for an injury lawyer to win in a successful medical malpractice suit was $299,800 in Florida in 2014. The national average was $242,000.
Florida is known as one of the most litigious states in the entire country and while that may be good for injury attorneys and their clients, it’s a bad thing for the healthcare industry overall.