Malpractice in the lower Rio Grande Valley

Data from the National Practitioner Data Bank were examined to assess malpractice payments in the Lower Rio Grande Valley in comparison with those for Texas and the United States as a whole. The Valley was found to have a high rate of malpractice payments when considered on a per physician basis and on a per unit of utilization basis, but an average rate when considered on a population basis. A number of possible explanations (such as the "bad apple" theory, the "settlement for convenience" theory, the case distribution theory, the physician qualifications theory, and the foreign medical graduate theory) were examined to explain the Valley's observed rate of malpractice payments per physician. No explanations are particularly satisfactory. More research is needed, but indications suggest that the observed rate may be driven more by the activities of some attorneys than by the actions of Valley physicians.