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How Often Do Oral Maxillofacial Surgeons Lose Malpractice Cases and Why?
Puhan He1, Kolina Mah-Ginn1, Deepti Shroff Karhade2
1Student, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Harvard University, Boston, MA.
Summary
Malpractice lawsuits against oral maxillofacial surgeons (OMSs) are most often related to third molar extractions, leading to injuries like nerve damage or infection. While about half of these cases favor the surgeon, understanding trends is crucial.
Area of Science:
- Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
- Medical Malpractice Law
- Legal Medicine
Background:
- Oral maxillofacial surgeons (OMSs) face significant legal risks in malpractice lawsuits.
- Data on the reasons and outcomes of malpractice claims against OMSs are limited.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze trends in malpractice cases against OMSs.
- To investigate the etiology and financial payouts associated with these cases.
Main Methods:
- A retrospective case series analysis of medical malpractice cases involving OMSs from 1980 to 2017.
- Data were collected from the Westlaw database, including case demographics, verdicts, payouts, and reasons for litigation.
Main Results:
- 183 cases were analyzed, showing a 60% decrease in malpractice claims from 2011-2015 compared to the prior 5 years.
- New York, California, and Massachusetts had the highest incidence of cases per practicing OMS.
- 55% of cases favored the defendant OMS, while 40% favored the plaintiff, with an average payout of $812,449.08 in plaintiff-favored cases.
- Extraction cases, particularly third molar extractions (53% of all litigations), were the most common, resulting in lingual nerve injury (26%), infection (17%), wrong-site extractions (15%), and death/brain damage (10%).
Conclusions:
- Approximately 50% of malpractice cases favor the defendant OMS.
- Third molar extractions are the primary cause of malpractice litigation, leading to a range of severe injuries.
- Further analysis incorporating insurance data could provide deeper insights into malpractice etiology and trends.
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