Note: HealthGrades collects malpractice and lawsuit information for the states of California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia.

New York reports judgments within the last 10 years; and settlements when 3 or more settlements, or any patient-safety-related settlements within the last 10 years.

Medical malpractice is ordinary negligence by a healthcare provider which causes injury. Examples include being improperly diagnosed, treated, medicated or operated upon outside the standard of care. Standard of care is that level of care, skill and treatment which is recognized as acceptable and appropriate by a reasonably prudent similar healthcare provider under similar circumstances. If your doctor has a closed malpractice claim in one of the states available to us, it will be listed here even if he/she no longer practices in that state. If your physician has malpractice claims from multiple states, evaluate the information for similarities. It is possible for multiple states to report the same claim because physicians are required to report all claims during the state licensing process.

Just because a physician has made a settlement (a claim settled out of court), it does not mean that he/she is a bad physician. Claim settlements may occur for a variety of reasons which should not necessarily reflect negatively on the physician's professional competence or conduct. A settlement payment on a medical malpractice action or claim is not a presumption that medical malpractice has occurred.

A malpractice judgment is a court order for a physician to pay a party a certain amount of money. This official decision by a court may or may not be based on a jury verdict; however, it is a conclusion that a civil wrong has occurred, typically based upon a preponderance of the evidence presented.

If your physician has a closed malpractice claim in one of the states available to us, it will be listed here even if he/she no longer practices in that state. If your physician has malpractice claims from multiple states, evaluate the information for similarities. It is possible for multiple states to report all claims during the state licensing process. If your physician has a malpractice claim, evaluate the information and make a determination. You may want to use this information to start a discussion with the physician.