How Do I Find Out if a Doctor Has Any Malpratice Law Suits Against Them?

Records of civil cases are available at the county courthouse.

Although a history of malpractice suits may not be an indicator on the quality of a doctor's care, particularly if he successfully defended himself in those trials, patients do have the right to know if there's a repeated pattern of patients unhappy enough to file malpractice suits against a physician. Because court records are by law publically accessible, researching a doctor's case history is as easy as making a trip to the courthouse and performing a records search. Many counties have even developed online record-searching tools as well.

Instructions

1. Locate the county in which the doctor practices. Malpractice suits are filed in the county where the infraction occurred. If the doctor practices at multiple offices, make sure you check the county for each of them.

2. Visit the county courthouse where civil actions are held. The Clerk of the Court is in charge of maintaining all court records, so visit that department to begin your records search.

3. Request information on all civil action in which the doctor was a defendant. Most public records laws allow local agencies to assess a reasonable fee for locating and duplicating records for citizens, so you may be required to pay for copies of records to be made.

4. Sort case records by type. If you receive all records in which the doctor is a defendant, you may receive information on other types of cases that aren't malpractice-related.

References

• University of California Berkley - Knight Digital Media Center: Civil Court Lawsuits
• University of Arizona Journalism Department: Public Records
• University of Pittsburgh - Jurist: Access to Court Records