Is the litigation risk in radiology overstated?

[odyssey2]

According to this NEJM study from 2011, the annual malpractice rate of radiology is slightly below the average of all specialties and only a few percentage points higher than fields like dermatology. I’ve never personally heard of a radiologist whose career was significantly impacted by litigation in any way. Yet I constantly hear about this as a drawback in rads.

https://www.nejm.org/na101/home/literatum/publisher/mms/journals/content/nejm/2011/nejm_2011.365.issue-7/nejmsa1012370/production/images/img_medium/nejmsa1012370_f1.jpeg

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[Cognovi]

This paper in JAMA IM shows radiology has an above average rate of paid malpractice claims. Paid Malpractice Claims Among US Physicians by Specialty, 1992-2014

 

[Cognovi]

This paper from the AMA shows radiology has an above average rate of claims.

https://www.ama-assn.org/system/files/policy-research-perspective-medical-liability-claim-frequency.pdf

 

[Cognovi]

One can be sued without career impact or without you hearing about the career impact. All your statements can be true.

 

[GadRads]

If I recall correctly, something like 90% of radiologists are named in a lawsuit. How many are successfully sued is a different matter, but most of the data shows the rate of litigation risk in radiology is certainly above average.