The anxiety from medical malpractice claims can be overwhelming.  It is not uncommon or unheard of that doctors practice defensive medicine, are consumed with anxiety when they are sued, that lawsuits have lead to divorce, burnout, and even suicide.  A RAND article looked at The Doctors Company data and concluded that the average physician spends 10% of their career in defense of medical malpractice suits.  This can be as high as 25% for neurosurgeons. It goes on further to state that doctors report 1,548 sleepless nights due to malpractice claims.  That’s five years. Fatigue and poor sleep has been shown to lead to errors.  So it is no wonder that once a physician is sued, he is more likely to be sued again. We have to look at ways to decrease the stress and unnecessary anxiety produced by the medical malpractice system.

Source: U.S. Doctors Spend Too Much Time Getting Sued | The Doctor Weighs In