Sixty-three percent of OB-GYNs and 63% of general surgeons have been named in a malpractice lawsuit, according to a new report from Medscape.
Across all specialties, 33% of physicians said they had been a sole defendant, a co-defendant or both in a malpractice suit. That included 34% of specialists and 31% of primary care physicians.
Medscape’s “Physicians and Malpractice Report 2026,” published Sept. 22, collected data from more than 1,100 full- and part-time physicians across nearly 30 specialties.
Here are five things to know:
1. Surgical and procedural specialties have the most exposure. After OB-GYNs and general surgeons, orthopedic surgeons had the highest share at 62%. Emergency medicine physicians followed at 50% and anesthesiologists at 43%. Medscape reported results only for specialties with statistically significant data.
2. Physicians in the North are sued most often. Forty percent of physicians in the North have been defendants in at least one malpractice suit. The share was 36% in the Midwest, 31% in the West and 30% in the South.
3. Fewer sued physicians are repeat defendants. Among physicians who had been sued, 53% said it happened once, up from 44% in 2023. Forty-three percent had been named two to five times, down from 49%. Two percent had been named six to nine times, down from 5%, and 1% had been named 10 or more times, down from 2%.
4. Malpractice worry has eased. In 2026, 24% of physicians said they worry constantly or frequently about malpractice when interacting with patients, down from 33% in 2024. Constant worry fell from 10% to 6%, and frequent worry fell from 23% to 18%.
5. More physicians rarely or never worry. Forty-three percent said they rarely or never worry about malpractice, up from 33% in 2024. Those who never worry doubled from 4% to 8%. The share who worry occasionally stayed at 34%.
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