What 290 verified medical malpractice verdicts show
By Kamal Hrynkiq, Listings Editor · Counted November 12, 2026
These figures come from the medical malpractice verdicts we have verified against court records and published, counted by hand from the full write-ups on November 12, 2026. Three cases are listed under two results each, so the 293 published rows are 290 distinct verdicts, and every figure below counts each case once.
This is the set of verdicts we found and could verify, not every malpractice verdict in the country. Large verdicts are reported more often than small ones and recent ones are easier to find than old ones, so the figures describe this set and are not national rates. A few results we call verdicts were entered by a judge, including one default judgment. Amounts are the figure that legally stood after any reduction unless a line says otherwise, and a verdict later reversed is counted at the amount first returned.
The results themselves: Medical malpractice verdicts and settlements. The full file is available by email from Data and press.
Size
- Distinct verdicts
- 290
- Median amount
- $13.2 million
- Verdicts of $10 million or more
- About 56 percent
- Median, 2015 through 2019
- $10.0 million77 verdicts, 51 percent of them $10 million or more.
- Median, 2022 through 2026
- About $19 million105 verdicts, 67 percent of them $10 million or more. The years 2020 and 2021 are thin because many courts paused jury trials. The comparison shows the direction in this set, not a measured national trend.
After trial
Each result carries an outcome label, explained in how outcomes are labeled. "No known reduction or reversal" means we found none; many of those verdicts were appealed and upheld.
- No known reduction or reversal
- 204
- Reduced
- 60
- On appeal
- 14
- Reversed
- 12In nine of the twelve a court ordered a new trial.
- How the 60 were reduced
- 23 by a damage cap or other statuteNine by a high-low agreement or settlement credit, six by a trial judge, six by an appellate court, 16 for other reasons such as fault assigned to someone not at trial.
- Cut or reversed by an appellate court
- 16 of 290
- Payment stated in the write-up
- 15The write-up says in words that money was paid or recovered after the verdict, or that a judgment was satisfied. A verdict is public and what was paid usually is not: for most results the record does not say. Sixteen more ended in a confidential settlement after the verdict or were subject to a high-low agreement.
Damage caps
Counted wherever the write-up records a court applying a damage cap or another statutory limit and gives both the amount returned and the amount after the reduction, whatever happened on appeal afterward. Verdicts where the cap could not be separated from another adjustment are left out.
- Verdicts cut by a cap or statutory limit
- 32, in 12 states
- Awarded
- About $508 million
- Left standing
- About $234 millionA 54 percent cut. Three of the 32 are still on appeal.
- Still $10 million or more after the cut
- 8
Labor and delivery
Cases about care during pregnancy, labor, delivery or the first hours of a newborn's life.
- Labor and delivery verdicts
- 71 of 290About a quarter.
- Their median
- $24.1 millionAgainst $9.3 million for the other 219.
- Share of verdicts of $10 million or more
- 35 percent
- Share of verdicts of $50 million or more
- 39 percent
- What the write-ups say went wrong most often
- A delivery that came late: 31A fetal heart tracing misread, not monitored or not acted on: 28.
Missed and delayed diagnosis
- Verdicts that turned on a missed or delayed diagnosis
- 68
- Their median
- $13.75 million37 are $10 million or more.
- Where they arose
- 36 in a hospital or emergency department17 in an office, clinic or urgent care; 15 write-ups do not say.
- Patient seen and sent home
- 33 verdicts24 from an emergency department, six from an office or clinic visit, three from urgent care. In 12 an abnormal finding or an outstanding result was recorded at discharge, and 12 involved a second or third visit.
Radiology, nursing, credentialing
- Radiology at issue
- 22 verdictsMedian $13.75 million. Eight missed reads, six where no radiologist or someone else read the study, three where a finding was seen and not acted on, five other.
- A nurse's work at issue
- 57 verdictsNursing homes left out. In 12 a warning did not reach a physician. The write-ups name an individual nurse as liable in three.
- Turned on credentialing, supervision or coverage
- 16 verdictsMedian $30.0 million; nine are $25 million or more.
- The institution's own written rule was not followed
- 15 verdictsMedian $14.5 million, close to the median for all 290.
Insolvency and coverage
- Verdicts that met a recorded insolvency or coverage obstacle
- 13
- Against defendants that cannot pay or are blocked from paying
- 7Four individuals who are imprisoned, uninsured or without assets, two bankruptcies and one defunct entity.
Checking or citing a figure
Every result links to its write-up and the sources it cites, so a count can be redone from the public pages. For the list of cases behind any figure here, or a cut of the data by state, case type or year, write to kamal@provenverdicts.com. How results are verified and labeled is set out in our methodology.