Emergency medicine malpractice verdicts have reached record levels. Diagnostic failures, systemic breakdowns, and a landmark Arizona Supreme Court ruling are reshaping liability exposure for emergency physicians and hospitals nationwide. ER Times investigates.
URGENT: The Arizona Supreme Court's 4–3 ruling in Part IV may signal a national shift in ER liability standards. Emergency physicians and hospital counsel should review Part IV immediately.
Read Now →Four investigations. One systemic crisis.
An investigation into the surge of multi-million dollar malpractice verdicts against emergency departments, focusing on the diagnostic failures — missed MI, overlooked PE, delayed stroke — that are generating the largest awards.
Beyond individual physician error, a new wave of malpractice litigation targets the systems, staffing decisions, and institutional policies that create conditions for harm — and the courts are listening.
A detailed examination of six landmark emergency medicine malpractice cases from 2024 to 2026, totaling $123.8 million in verdicts and settlements — and the clinical and legal lessons each one carries.
A landmark 4–3 Arizona Supreme Court ruling eliminates the state's emergency care liability standard, replacing it with ordinary negligence — a decision that could reshape malpractice exposure for emergency physicians nationwide.
ER Times spent six months investigating the forces driving emergency medicine malpractice verdicts to record levels. Our reporting draws on court records, expert interviews, and analysis of more than 400 verdicts from 2020 to 2026.
The malpractice series is eligible for risk management CME credit. See Clinical Insights for the assessment module.
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