Malpractice suits in chest radiology: an evaluation of the histories of 8265 radiologists

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study was to present rates of claims, causes of error, percentage of cases resulting in a judgment, and average payments made by radiologists in chest-related malpractice cases in a survey of 8265 radiologists.

Materials and methods: The malpractice histories of 8265 radiologists were evaluated from the credentialing files of One-Call Medical Inc., a preferred provider organization for computed tomography/magnetic resonance imaging in workers' compensation cases.

Results: Of the 8265 radiologists, 2680 (32.4%) had at least 1 malpractice suit. Of those who were sued, the rate of claims was 55.1 per 1000 person years. The rate of thorax-related suits was 6.6 claims per 1000 radiology practice years (95% confidence interval, 6.0-7.2). There were 496 suits encompassing 48 different causes. Errors in diagnosis comprised 78.0% of the causes. Failure to diagnose lung cancer was by far the most frequent diagnostic error, representing 211 cases or 42.5%. Of the 496 cases, an outcome was known in 417. Sixty-one percent of these were settled in favor of the plaintiff, with a mean payment of $277,230 (95% confidence interval, 226,967-338,614).

Conclusions: Errors in diagnosis, and among them failure to diagnose lung cancer, were by far the most common reasons for initiating a malpractice suit against radiologists related to the thorax and its contents.