Luke D Latario, Carly J Deter, Abby M Deter, Mark E Baratz
{"title":"The Increasing Medicolegal Cost in the Care of High-Level Athletes.","authors":"Luke D Latario, Carly J Deter, Abby M Deter, Mark E Baratz","doi":"10.1016/j.jse.2024.07.011","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Medical malpractice represents a significant economic cost in healthcare. Increasingly large damage claims by professional athletes against physicians have raised concerns about the medicolegal challenges in caring for high-level athletes.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>An online proprietary legal research database was queried for lawsuits related to malpractice in the care of professional and amateur athletes from 1992-2023. Demographics of plaintiffs and defendants, details of lawsuit filings and damages claimed were recorded for all cases, settlements, and jury verdicts. Descriptive statistics, linear regression, as well as univariate analysis of demographic factors and damage claims in inflation-adjusted 2023 dollars was performed.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Eighty-eight lawsuits were recorded from 1992-2023. The sum of indemnities exceeded 186 million in 2023 inflation-adjusted United States Dollars. Football players were the most commonly represented athletes (n=26) and represented 49% of total financial awards. Fourteen cases (16%) involved treatment of the upper extremity. Professional and collegiate level of play was associated with higher damages in favor of plaintiffs when compared to other levels of play. No other demographic was associated with higher financial awards. Linear regression showed a significant positive trend with an increasing inflation-adjusted compensation for plaintiff verdicts in the last 30 years.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>There is an increasing medicolegal financial risk associated with the care of athletes. This is higher in collegiate and professional levels of play. As physicians, insurers and institutions adjust to these financial risks, care must be taken to avoid ramifications on the availability and quality of care provided to athletes. Shoulder and elbow surgeons may consider additional preoperative counseling, legal waiver forms regarding malpractice claims and advocacy for medical malpractice reforms in the care of athletes with high earning potential to mitigate these increasing financial risks.</p>","PeriodicalId":50051,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.9000,"publicationDate":"2024-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jse.2024.07.011","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ORTHOPEDICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Medical malpractice represents a significant economic cost in healthcare. Increasingly large damage claims by professional athletes against physicians have raised concerns about the medicolegal challenges in caring for high-level athletes.
Methods: An online proprietary legal research database was queried for lawsuits related to malpractice in the care of professional and amateur athletes from 1992-2023. Demographics of plaintiffs and defendants, details of lawsuit filings and damages claimed were recorded for all cases, settlements, and jury verdicts. Descriptive statistics, linear regression, as well as univariate analysis of demographic factors and damage claims in inflation-adjusted 2023 dollars was performed.
Results: Eighty-eight lawsuits were recorded from 1992-2023. The sum of indemnities exceeded 186 million in 2023 inflation-adjusted United States Dollars. Football players were the most commonly represented athletes (n=26) and represented 49% of total financial awards. Fourteen cases (16%) involved treatment of the upper extremity. Professional and collegiate level of play was associated with higher damages in favor of plaintiffs when compared to other levels of play. No other demographic was associated with higher financial awards. Linear regression showed a significant positive trend with an increasing inflation-adjusted compensation for plaintiff verdicts in the last 30 years.
Conclusions: There is an increasing medicolegal financial risk associated with the care of athletes. This is higher in collegiate and professional levels of play. As physicians, insurers and institutions adjust to these financial risks, care must be taken to avoid ramifications on the availability and quality of care provided to athletes. Shoulder and elbow surgeons may consider additional preoperative counseling, legal waiver forms regarding malpractice claims and advocacy for medical malpractice reforms in the care of athletes with high earning potential to mitigate these increasing financial risks.
期刊介绍：
The official publication for eight leading specialty organizations, this authoritative journal is the only publication to focus exclusively on medical, surgical, and physical techniques for treating injury/disease of the upper extremity, including the shoulder girdle, arm, and elbow. Clinically oriented and peer-reviewed, the Journal provides an international forum for the exchange of information on new techniques, instruments, and materials. Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery features vivid photos, professional illustrations, and explicit diagrams that demonstrate surgical approaches and depict implant devices. Topics covered include fractures, dislocations, diseases and injuries of the rotator cuff, imaging techniques, arthritis, arthroscopy, arthroplasty, and rehabilitation.
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