Slightly more than 40% of family physicians were named in a malpractice lawsuit in 2021, and while that number is significant, it’s an eight percentage-point decrease from two years prior, according to new data published by Medscape, Healthcare Finance reports.
Michael Moroney, an attorney with Flynn Watts in Parsippany, New Jersey, said the COVID-19 pandemic had something to do with the dip in malpractice suits.
“People haven’t been able to get out,” he said. “This includes getting out to have medical procedures done and getting out to file lawsuits. Like a lot of other businesses, there was a lot of slowdown during COVID.”
Also, many plaintiffs’ attorneys have been reluctant to file lawsuits during this time, according to Charles Lohrfink, senior managing partner at White Plains, New York-based Voute, Lohrfink, McAndrew, Meisner and Roberts. Read more.
