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A comprehensive study of medical malpractice claims in Florida since 1990 shows no sharp increase in lawsuits relative to population growth and a modest increase in the size of settlements, according to two Duke University professors. "When we compared the number of malpractice cases to the population in Florida," said Neil Vidmar, a professor at Duke's School of Law, "there has been no (large) increase in medical malpractice lawsuits in Florida." Vidmar, who has a Ph.D. in sociology, was joined by Dr. Paul Lee, a professor at Duke University's School of Medicine and an attorney, in conducting the study. Vidmar said the data in the study came from public records filed at the Florida Department of Health since 1975, when a law was passed to require medical malpractice insurance companies to file extensive information annually on claims. … Vidmar's study comes on the heels of a similar report from the University of Texas that was released last week. Assembled by four law professors, the Texas study mirrored the Duke report. "We find no evidence of the medical malpractice crisis that produced headlines over the last several years and led to legal reform in Texas and other states," the report said. "The rapid changes in insurance premiums that sparked the crisis appear to reflect market dynamics, largely disconnected from claim outcomes," the report continued. Charles Silver, a law professor at the University of Texas Law school, said the report is based on information provided by the Texas Department of Insurance.
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