Malpractice Cases in Breast Surgery: An Assessment of Litigation Involving Surgeons

Results: A total of 174 malpractice cases were reviewed, of which 41 cases were closed with payment. Plastic surgeons were most commonly named (64%, 111/174), followed by general surgeons (30%, 53/174), and surgical oncologists (6%, 10/174). The most common allegation was error in surgical treatment (87%, 152/174), and infection, cosmetic injury, emotional trauma, foreign body, and nosocomial infections represented the top five injury descriptions. On average, indemnity payments were larger for high clinical severity cases. Technical skills, followed by clinical judgment, were the most commonly named contributing factors. The average payment per case was $130,422.

Conclusion: The malpractice cases predominantly involved technical complications related to plastic surgery procedures. Better understanding of the malpractice environment involving surgical procedures performed for breast cancer may provide practical insight to guide initiatives aimed at improving patient outcomes.

Citation for the Full-text Article

Fan B, Pardo J, Yu-Moe CW, Janes M, Falcone B, Valero MG, Serres SK, Emhoff I, James TA. Malpractice cases in breast surgery: An assessment of litigation involving surgeons. Annals of Surgical Oncology.2021 December;28:8109–8115. https://doi.org/10.1245/s10434-021-10236-2