Medical Malpractice Involvement Amongst Vascular Surgeons: Demographic Associations, Clinical Impact, and Personal Implications.
69% of surveyed vascular surgeons had been named in a malpractice lawsuit.
Medical Malpractice Involvement Amongst Vascular Surgeons: Demographic Associations, Clinical Impact, and Personal Implications.
The impact of malpractice litigation on vascular surgeons has rarely been studied.
Our study aims to examine the demographics of vascular surgeons involved in litigation and its effects on wellness and practice patterns.
Active Society for Clinical Vascular Surgery (Society for Clinical Vascular Surgery) members were surveyed regarding involvement in litigation and opinions regarding the current vascular surgery medicolegal environment.
most vascular surgeons surveyed had faced a malpractice suit
Responses were anonymized and data analyzed in the standard statistical fashion (significance with p-value < 0.05).
ANALYSIS: 104 responses were received from active Society for Clinical Vascular Surgery members.
Compared to peers not named in lawsuits, surgeons were more likely to be male (p = 0.02), older than 50 (p < 0.00001), and practicing for greater than 20 years (p = 0.00002).
They were more likely to consider retiring early secondary to the medicolegal atmosphere (p = 0.047).
This survey of current Society for Clinical Vascular Surgery members demonstrates that older surgeons with longer experience are more likely to have been named in lawsuits due to length of practice.
We show the concerning impact of litigation on vascular surgeons' well-being, desire to continue practice, engagement in direct patient care, and time-consuming practice of "defensive medicine".