Nearly 1 in 3 U.S. physicians will be sued at least once in their career, but the risk varies depending on where they practice, what they specialize in and how long they have been in medicine, according to a policy research perspective published in April by the American Medical Association.
Overall claim trends
In 2024, 1.8% of physicians were sued in the previous year, down from 2.3% in 2016. Over the course of a career, 28.7% of physicians have been sued at least once, down from 34.0% in 2016, with an average of 56 claims filed per 100 physicians.
Being sued is not necessarily indicative of medical error, however. Among claims closed between 2016 and 2018, 65% were dropped, dismissed or withdrawn, and defendants won 89% of the cases that went to trial.
Specialty breakdown
Physicians in surgical specialties carry the heaviest burden. The highest-risk specialties:
| Specialty | Ever sued | Claims per 100 physicians |
| OB-GYN | 59.6% | 139 |
| General surgery | 53.1% | 177 |
| Other surgical specialties | 50.9% | 134 |
| Orthopedic surgery | 49.8% | 114 |
| Emergency medicine | 42% | 81 |
| Urology | 41.3% | 80 |
| Otolaryngology | 38.6% | 57 |
| Radiology | 38.2% | 70 |
At the other end of the spectrum, certain specialties see relatively few claims. The lowest-risk specialties:
| Specialty | Ever sued | Claims per 100 physicians |
| Hematology/oncology | 4.5% | 9 |
| Endocrinology/diabetes | 8.9% | 14 |
| Psychiatry | 9.2% | 13 |
| Dermatology | 9.2% | 11 |
| Pathology | 13.3% | 17 |
| Allergy/immunology | 15% | 21 |
| Pediatrics | 16.4% | 22 |
Age
Risk compounds significantly with years in practice. While the annual likelihood of being sued is similar across age groups, career exposure grows sharply over time.
| Age group | Ever sued | Claims per 100 physicians |
| Under 45 | 11% | 14 |
| 45-54 | 22.2% | 36 |
| 55+ | 45.2% | 96 |
The combination of specialty and age produces the starkest figures. Among OB-GYNs and general surgeons aged 55 and older, nearly 75% have been sued at least once in their career, compared to 28.5% of OB-GYNs and 23.2% of general surgeons under 45.
Gender
Male physicians face higher liability risk across all measures. Around 2% were sued in the past year and 35.1% have ever been sued, compared to 1% and 20.6% for female physicians, respectively. Men also averaged 72 claims per 100 physicians, versus 33 for women.
After controlling for age and specialty, the gap narrows by about half, with male physicians still 7 percentage points more likely to have ever been sued. The disparity is essentially nonexistent among physicians younger than 45 but widens considerably with age. Among physicians 55 and older, men are 18 percentage points more likely to have been sued in their career than women.
Employment status
Owner physicians were sued at a higher career rate than employed physicians — 34.4% versus 25.9% — but that gap shrinks to just 1.9 percentage points after controlling for age and gender, since owners tend to be older and more likely to be male.
Regional breakdown
Physicians in the Middle Atlantic division — New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania — face the highest liability risk of any region, with 37.6% having been sued at least once and 82 claims per 100 physicians, compared to a low of 26% ever sued in the West North Central division.
| Region | Sued in past year | Ever sued | Claims per 100 |
| Middle Atlantic | 3.4% | 37.6% | 82 |
| East North Central | 1.9% | 31.6% | 60 |
| West South Central | 1.6% | 29.8% | 71 |
| South Atlantic | 1.6% | 28.4% | 51 |
| New England | 2.3% | 27.3% | 44 |
| Pacific | 1.7% | 26.1% | 50 |
| West North Central | 1.6% | 26.0% | 49 |
| Mountain | 0.1% | 27.4% | 41 |
That regional pattern is reinforced by National Practitioner Data Bank records. Between 2015 and 2025, there were 608,758 adverse action reports filed nationally. The states with the most reports in that period:
- California: 60,385
- Texas: 52,660
- Florida: 40,519
- Ohio: 28,850
- New York: 26,485
- Michigan: 24,996
- Pennsylvania: 24,291
- Illinois: 20,020
- Colorado: 18,665
- Washington: 17,748
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