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Sensational cases continue to make headlines, but the number of medical malpractice lawsuits is dropping.
Better forensic sciences and the legal might of combined practice groups are among the factors limiting new cases, according to plaintiff attorneys and doctor defenders. And despite late-night commercials promoting attorneys with "med-mal" expertise and the existence of websites like medicalmalpractice.com, such lawsuits have become uncommon.
A 2011 report by the National Center for State Courts showed that in eight sample states, including New York, new med-mal lawsuits accounted for less than 2 percent of all incoming civil cases in 2008. The NCSC also cited a decline in medical malpractice caseloads in seven states, including New York, between 1999 and 2008 - dipping only 1 percent in New York during that decade, but plummeting between 22 and 45 percent in the other six states.
Great Neck attorney Gerald Oginski, who's helped patients sue doctors for 23 years, said bluntly, "There are fewer medical malpractice cases filed these days," while attorney Peter Brill of Hauppauge noted plaintiff attorneys are becoming more judicious about bringing suits.
Brill cited the "consolidation of the medical industry" - in particular, smaller practices uniting and attracting larger insurance companies - as a...