Litigation with medical liability implications heard by U.S. Supreme Court
A legal fight before the U.S. Supreme Court could lead to new avenues for increased litigation and opportunities for medical lawsuit abuse.
Ahead of oral arguments heard earlier this month, several physician groups have urged the Court to uphold longstanding precedent that prevents plaintiffs from pursuing the same medical liability case in both state and federal courts simultaneously. The concern is straightforward: allowing parallel lawsuits would open the door to more litigation, higher legal costs, and increased pressure to settle, even in cases with no evidence of medical negligence.
The Litigation Center of the American Medical Association and State Medical Societies and the Maryland State Medical Society (MedChi) filed an amicus brief with the nation’s highest court. As the brief explains, permitting these duplicative claims “would encourage plaintiffs with baseless medical malpractice claims to pursue parallel litigation… to run up legal fees and extract nuisance settlements.”
Even when doctors prevail in such lawsuits, the costs are substantial. Defense expenses can exceed $150,000 for cases that go to trial and are ruled in favor of the defendant, draining precious physician resources and time that could otherwise support patient care. Expanding opportunities for duplicative lawsuits would only amplify these cost pressures.
In addition to creating more lawsuits, a ruling against common sense legal precedent would lead to a health care system that becomes harder for patients to navigate and trust.
Click here to read more about the Supreme Court case and what’s at stake for patients and physicians.
A misdiagnosis of data
A recent letter to the editor in the Albuquerque Journal pushes back on a familiar narrative: that a small group of physicians drive outsized medical liability payouts.
Responding to a prior article, two children of a local physician named in the story highlight that “0.7% of New Mexico doctors account for half the malpractice payments,” but challenge the premise by pointing to differences across specialties. Citing a study in the New England Journal of Medicine, the authors note that “neurosurgery is the most-sued specialty” based on unintended outcomes that are not linked to medical negligence, with nearly all physicians in high-risk fields facing a claim by age 65.
The letter also questions how settlement figures are interpreted. Large payouts, it explains, often reflect uncapped lifetime medical care costs, not negligence. The authors also state that insurers may settle even defensible cases to avoid the risk of sky-high jury verdicts. Compounding the issue, they describe a “shotgun” legal approach, where multiple providers are named in lawsuits, that has continued in New Mexico, even after recent reforms.
Medical liability pressures are distorting both perception and practice. In states like New Mexico, where legal exposure remains high, physicians are reconsidering whether to continue practicing medicine there, and patients are paying the price.
Click here to read the full letter and learn about the continued advocacy needed to ensure accountability without driving physicians away.
Why the cost of care is rising faster than inflation
Data from medical liability insurers show that costs are rising fast, and the ripple effects are likely to hit patients directly.
New analysis from S&P Global Market Intelligence highlights how liability insurance costs are rising faster than inflation because of litigation and high payouts. One key metric, “average unpaid severity per open claim,” tells part of the story. This figure represents how much insurers expect to pay, on average, for cases that are still unresolved. It exceeded $150,000 in recent years, and reflects expected future payouts, not just what has already been paid – an indication that costs are continuing to climb.
The report points to “social inflation” fueled by litigation funding, aggressive trial strategies, and a surge in nuclear verdicts. Data from the National Practitioner Data Bank shows that payments of $500,000 or more made up 36.5% of claims in 2024, a record high. The Doctor’s Company described the current environment as “an era marked by nuclear malpractice verdicts.”
The bottom line is simple: when the cost of medical liability rises, those costs flow through the system into higher premiums, increased health care costs, and ultimately fewer providers willing to practice in high-risk areas.
Click here to read the full analysis and explore how lawsuit-driven costs are impacting affordability and access to care.