Day on Torts
Data has been released that shows the number of Tennessee medical malpractice (now called health care liability actions) filed and disposed of for the year ending June 30, 2019.
A total of 422 claims were filed in our state courts in FY 2019, about the same as the previous year (416). The courts disposed of 385 cases in FY 2019, compared with 382 the previous year.
Only 27 of the cases went to trial in FY 2019, 17 of which were tried to a jury and 10 of which were non-jury trials. In FY 2018 there were 18 total trials, 13 of which were jury trials and 5 of which were non-jury trials.
In FY 2019 the plaintiff received a judgment in 4 (14.8%) cases. The data does not reveal whether judgments were entered for the plaintiff in jury trials, non-jury trials, or some combination thereof. Two Shelby County plaintiffs received judgments totaling $2,075,000. One Madison County plaintiff received a judgment for $300,000. One Davidson County plaintiff received a judgment for $750,000.
In FY 2018 a judgment was entered for the plaintiff in 2 (11%) cases. The successful plaintiffs were both in Davidson County. The total amount of the two judgments was $986,578.