Factors Associated with Trial Outcomes in the Management of Nephrolithiasis: A Legal Database Review

Domestically the estimated annual cost of medical malpractice is $55.6 billion. As surgical providers in a high risk subspecialty, urologists are at particularly high risk. Interventions for nephrolithiasis are especially common in practice, and understanding the risks associated with high volume procedures is critical for quality improvement and cost containment.

Using the Westlaw legal database we identified all legal briefs with the search terms "medical malpractice" and "kidney stone" or "nephrolithiasis" for dates between January 2000 and December 2015. Each case was evaluated for alleged cause of malpractice, resulting injury and indemnity payments.

The initial search yielded 55 cases, which was decreased to 29 after exclusions. Most cases (15, 52%) were decided in favor of the defendant, while the remaining suits led to indemnity payments, including 6 cases that were settled and 8 with verdicts for the plaintiff. Of named defendants 75% were urologists. The mean settlement amount was $158,400 while the mean indemnity payment for verdicts decided in favor of the plaintiff was $124,400. The most commonly alleged breach of duty was negligent performance in surgery (15 cases), followed by negligent postoperative care (6 cases), and failure to diagnose and treat (5 cases). The most commonly claimed damage was death (13 cases).

Malpractice cases related to the management of nephrolithiasis most commonly involve allegations of negligent performance in surgery, negligent postoperative care, or failure to diagnose or treat. Urologists account for 75% of named defendants and should be aware of factors that increase the risk of litigation.