are radiologists frequently sued?

[erasable]

I was skimming a getting a residency guide, and it said that radiology has joined obstetrics and gynecology as one of the most frequently sued specialties. From your experience, is this true? and why?

During undergrad, I was pretty sure I wanted to be an opthalmologist, but now... i'm questioning that and am researching other specialties.

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[Bevo]

I'm not sure, but I'll postulate.

a) majority of those cases are probably related to mammography.

b) its usually for looking back at a film and saying this could have been diagnosed back then or something like that. the Hindsight is 20/20 thing.

 

[Charles]

It depends on what state you're in. I interviewed in the Philadelphia area, and 'most' (in their words) of the 40+ members of the group had been at least named in a lawsuit. Where I trained in Baltimore, almost no doctors actually get named - the hospital just eats it (when necessary), and pays off whomever it needs to, and everybody is (relatively) happy.

 

[MossPoh]

From what I've noticed with my dad (he's the radiologist) it seems to be just as much state/region as anything else. In South Florida he was involved in something like 2 or 3 lawsuits but in Indiana it was only 1 in 15 years....I think it is because when an unfavorable result happens to someone they occassionally look to sue whoever is in reach or involved..and frequently radiologist at least have some effect on a large amount of people. How many times they are actually at fault is debateable...

 

[erasable]

From what I've noticed with my dad (he's the radiologist) it seems to be just as much state/region as anything else. In South Florida he was involved in something like 2 or 3 lawsuits but in Indiana it was only 1 in 15 years....I think it is because when an unfavorable result happens to someone they occassionally look to sue whoever is in reach or involved..and frequently radiologist at least have some effect on a large amount of people. How many times they are actually at fault is debateable...

It seems location & mammographies seem to affect the likelihood of being sued as a radiologist.
Are malpractice premiums for radiologists high?
How can I minimize the probability of being sued?

 

[MossPoh]

It seems location & mammographies seem to affect the likelihood of being sued as a radiologist.
Are malpractice premiums for radiologists high?
How can I minimize the probability of being sued?

I have no proper qualifications to answer that but I'd supposse being the best damn doctor you can be and living in an area that isn't sue happy can help.....although sometimes it seems that it is just completley random. Of all the lawsuits I remember there was one that he actually knew he was in the wrong and he felt horrible about it.....it was being rushed to make a quick decision and in the heat of the moment he missed something that resulted in serious injury of the guy...it was one of the few times I've seen him noticeably distraught for a while.

 

[Docmike2006]

Working for the VA may decrease the risk of being sued... Also, there isn't too much mammo there. The pay is less, but the peace of mind may be worth it.

 

[p53]

In a given year....one out of 10 radiologists in America gets sued. The hot subspecialty is in Breasts.

the 3 most common cited reasons in the current literature are

1. Perceptual Errors (i.e. "a miss")
2. Not suggesting any further study or followup study
3. Not giving the referring physician the proper information in a timely manner.

To answer your question....

Yes, radiologists are one of the most frequently sued physicians in the medical field.

 

[sepsis]

Yes, radiologists are one of the most frequently sued physicians in the medical field.

Hans, care to weigh in?

 

[jsaul]

Hans, care to weigh in?

a radiologist in my hospital who missed a find on a film was sued bigtime and lost. Everyone is human but unfortunately in rads if you miss something you will be called on it-- one way or another. People think its a cush stress free job, but it's not. the pressure is there.