Profession
ACOG sees specialty's future imperiled by liability crisis
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Aug. 9, 2004
One in seven American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists members surveyed said the risk of liability claims led them to give up OB practice, according to an ACOG report released in July. On average, an ob-gyn faces 2.6 lawsuits during his or her career.
"The crisis is getting more serious by the day," ACOG President Vivian M. Dickerson, MD, said in a statement. "It's not only threatening today's ob-gyns, but also the future of our specialty."
ACOG's medical liability survey is an ongoing study that has been conducted every two to four years since 1986. This survey, designed and conducted with Princeton Survey Research Associates, covered 1999-2003.
The survey showed that 49.5% of claims against ob-gyns were dropped, dismissed or settled without payments. Of the cases that did go forward, ob-gyns won 81.3% of the time.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2004/08/09/prbf0809.htm.
