San Diego—On the medicolegal front, there is good news and bad news. Malpractice claims for anesthesia errors decreased in frequency between 2005 and 2013, both in absolute numbers and relative to all other malpractice claims. In contrast, the payouts for anesthesia errors increased more than those for other malpractice claims, from 20.7% of all claims between 1995 and 1998 to 44.4% of all claims between 2010 and 2013.
“When malpractice claims resulted in payment, anesthesia-related