California: Malpractice Payment of $97,500 for Injury to a Male Patient in his 50s (2011)

In 2011, a medical malpractice insurance company made a payment on behalf of a registered nurse in California for approximately* $97,500. Payment was made in response to a claim of medical malpractice claim involving an injury along the lines of quadriplegia, brain damage, or the need for lifelong care suffered by a male patient between 50 and 60 years old. The nature of the claim is broadly described as: "behavioral health related." The payment report submitted by a medical malpractice payer described the allegations in the claim as "Failure to Perform Procedure."

* The payment amount is approximate because the National Practitioner Data Bank codes payments as a range value. The report's description of $97,500 corresponds to a malpractice payment somewhere between $95,001 and $100,000.

Claim Insights

With respect to any medical malpractice payment, there are three major components of any claim. First, there is the act or omission that gave rise to an injury and whether the provider departed from an accepted standard of practice. Second, there is the nature of the injury itself, which includes several factors like its severity, duration, the impact on the patient’s life, the age and general health of the patient, along with many other elements. Third, there needs to be a causal connection between the negligent act or omission by the provider and the injury itself. Even with a showing of negligence, a medical provider is not legally responsible for an outcome that was not caused by the negligence.

With this in mind, the Data Bank does have some information that can give context to the medical malpractice payments, including the patient’s age, gender, whether it was inpatient or outpatient care, the type of malpractice or medical mistake that was alleged, and the ultimate outcome to the patient.

The information has significant limitations, however, that everyone should keep in mind. For one thing, the information is usually self-reported by the healthcare provider and his or her representatives…

Provider History Includes Four Licensure Reports

A medical provider's malpractice history can be extremely insightful. A long history of malpractice claims and discipline can certainly affect whether a matter is resolved and for how much. One of the most important goals of the National Practitioner Data Bank is to track providers' disciplinary and malpractice payment history throughout interstate moves or new employment situations.

In addition to this particular malpractice payment, this provider has two other types of reports on record that are worth noting. First, the database reflects that this particular provider had four licensure report(s) on record. These are more unusual among the providers for whom malpractice payments are recorded in the database - only about 15% of the providers with malpractice payments also have at least one licensure report as well.

Second, this provider has an exclusion report on record. The Office of the Inspector General keeps a database on providers who are excluded from Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal programs. The provider in this matter has such a report associated with them in the database.

Similar Claims

Here are other claims involving an allegation of Failure to Perform Procedure and an outcome of an injury along the lines of quadriplegia, brain damage, or the need for lifelong care suffered by at age patient between 50 and 60 years old.
YearStateAmountAllegation
2024Iowa$1,950,000Failure to Perform Procedure
2019Florida$245,000Failure to Perform Procedure
2019Arizona$995,000Failure to Perform Procedure
2018Illinois$495,000Failure to Perform Procedure
2017Pennsylvania$495,000Failure to Perform Procedure
2016Missouri$895,000Failure to Perform Procedure
2011California$97,500Failure to Perform Procedure
2007Florida$245,000Failure to Perform Procedure
2005Pennsylvania$845,000Failure to Perform Procedure
2005Ohio$675,000Failure to Perform Procedure