Clinical orthopaedics and related research
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Clin. Orthop. Relat. Res. · Feb 2009
Juries and medical malpractice claims: empirical facts versus myths.
Juries in medical malpractice trials are viewed as incompetent, antidoctor, irresponsible in awarding damages to patients, and casting a threatening shadow over the settlement process. Several decades of systematic empirical research yields little support for these claims. This article summarizes those findings. ⋯ Damage awards tend to correlate positively with the severity of injury. There are defensible reasons for large damage awards. Moreover, the largest awards are typically settled for much less than the verdicts.