You can access an image of the map here. Feel free to embed it with credit back to Zippia.
Here's How We Did It
Like all our lists here at Zippia, we used facts and figures to create this map, rather than opinions or hearsay. In this case, we used data from the National Practitioner Data Bank to identify which states brought the most malpractices suits against medical practitioners in 2015.
We counted the number of malpractice suits in each state and then divided by the state's population to get all the data apples to apples. Next, we multiplied every states' per capita rate by 100,000 to get the number of malpractice suits per 100,000 people in the state.
Finally, we mapped each state and color-coded by quintile and produced a rank-based chart. As you can see, the leading state, Louisiana, has almost 8x as many lawsuits per 100,000 residents as the least litigious state, Hawaii.
And speaking of crazy amounts of lawsuits, let's take a look at our winner (depending on how you want to look at it…), Louisiana!
Malpractice Suits Per 100K People By State In 2015 (Highest to Lowest)
15 - Distrtict of Columbia
25.7
1. Louisiana
Dear doctors in Louisiana,
We're sorry. Of all the states, it looks like you guys are dealing with the most flack—a whopping 44.1 malpractice suits per 100K residents. This, compared to say, Hawaii with just 4.9 suits per 100K is enough to send Louisiana docs into another, less dangerous profession. Crocodile wrestler, anyone?
2. Oklahoma
One thing that is not OK (see what we did there? Please don't sue us.) in this state is the number of malpractice suits—36.3 per 100K. Now whether this is because residents are quick to pull the lawsuit trigger, or because doctors in Oklahoma are being careless and dangerous in their actions, we can't tell. But one way or another, if you're a doctor in Oklahoma, you better watch your back (and if you're a patient, same for you. Perhaps literally!)
3. Delaware
How can so many lawsuits fit into one tiny, little state? In 2015, there were 35.2 lawsuits filed against doctors (per 100K)—almost as many as in Oklahoma, a state about 20 times the size.
4. Wyoming
Fun fact! Wyoming is the tenth largest state by area, but the least populous in the country. So, where are all these lawsuits coming from? (34 per 100K!) Apparently, from just about everyone. Which seems fitting for a place known as the Equality State. Lawsuits across the board!
5. Tennessee
Last but not least we have Tennessee: The Volunteer State. As in, We Volunteer to Sue the Pants off of Our Doctors Should the Opportunity Arise, State. Again, we can't tell by the numbers here (33 malpractice suits per 100K residents) who is responsible in these cases, but we can sure tell you one thing: if you're a doctor, or looking to get an operation, you might want to hop on over to North Carolina.
Don't Sue Us
If you happen to live in one of these malpractice-happy states, please calm down, and please don't sue us. We're just reporting the facts here, and if you don't like it… maybe you should move to Hawaii. We hear it's just splendid this time of year.
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About Zippia
Zippia is the career expert site, where recent college graduates can study the pathways of previous graduates to learn about which career routes they want to pursue. Career job data can be found on
https://www.zippia.com/colleges-and-majors/.
PS - In Case You Want To Get Your Hands Dirty
I had to spend way too much time formatting the data from the source. To make your life easier should you decide to dive into the data, here's a python program that parses the .DAT file. Merry analyzing.
