Waning Risks, Higher Stakes: Medscape Physicians and Malpractice Report 2026 Tony Stasiek

https://www.medscape.com/p11/medscape-physicians-and-malpractice-report-2026-2026a1000xvs One third of all US physicians have been a sole or co-defendant in a malpractice lawsuit, according to Medscape's latest survey of physicians across more than 29 specialties. But you might not always know it. "Historically, we've never talked about these things," says Gita Pensa, MD, an emergency medicine specialist and adjunct associate professor and clinician educator with the Brown University Emergency Medicine Residency in Providence, Rhode Island. "We all feel a lot of shame and isolation around it, we don't have the support of our colleagues in many instances."