Once & Future ‘Judicial Hellholes’ Dominate New List of States with Highest Medical Lawsuit Payouts

No one should be surprised, of course, but according to 2011 data, the six states with the highest average payouts for medical liability lawsuits are all home to current or recently named Judicial Hellholes.  Collectively, these six states accounted for 51.4 percent of all such payouts nationwide last year.

As reported by Becker’s ASC Review, a new data analysis by Diederich Healthcare ranks the states from highest to lowest average medical lawsuit payouts, as recorded by the National Practitioner Data Bank.  And, drumroll please, the “top” six states are:

     State              Total 2011 Payouts

1. New York — $677,866,050 (current Hellhole)
2. Pennsylvania — $319,710,250 (home to Philadelphia, a current but reforming Hellhole)
3. Illinois — $242,108,800 (home to three current Hellholes and a Watch List jurisdiction)
4. New Jersey — $221,170,750 (home to two current Watch List jurisdictions) 
5. Florida — $218,123,050 (home to current Hellhole South Florida)
6. California  — $215,519,200 (current Hellhole)