REVEALED: Map shows the states where doctors are most likely to bungle your ... trends now
If you're going in for surgery soon, you don't want to be in Louisiana
And steer clear of Wyoming, Colorado and Oregon, according to a new analysis.
RP Legal Group looked at over half a million adverse action reports (AARs) across the country in the past decade.
AARs are what healthcare institutions or states use to report suspected cases of medical malpractice against doctors, dentists or any other healthcare provider.
The analysis looked at the number of reports in a state per 100,000 residents and found Louisiana had an average of about 29 reports per 100,000 from 2013 to 2023.
The state was followed by Wyoming, with a rate of 26.2 AARs per 100,000 residents, and Colorado with a rate of 25.6 reports.
Rounding out the top five were Oregon (23 AARs) and Oklahoma (22.5 AARs per 100,000 people).
Between 2013 and 2023, the NPDB recorded approximately 513,270 adverse reports, with payouts totaling close to $43million.
Medical malpractice can be mistakes or errors made during surgery or procedures, including operating on a wrong part of the body and leaving medical tools and supplies in patients following surgery.
According to the New York Bar Association, malpractice occurs 'when a doctor, healthcare professional, hospital or other healthcare facility fails to care for someone in accordance with the accepted standards of the medical profession and the person is injured, becomes ill or a condition or illness worsens as a result.'
Complaints can be lodged by patients themselves or on behalf of patients who have died as a result of suspected malpractice.
Malpractice claims have seen payouts to wronged patients and their families total hundreds of millions of dollars.
In Louisiana, about 3,000 payments were paid out by insurances, healthcare institutions or providers over the decade.
But despite ranking first, Louisiana has actually seen an 18 percent decrease in AARs filed since 2013.
The report showed no region in the US is safe from medical malpractice, with the highest errors in states all over the country, including the west, Midwest, south and Northeast.
Robert Rikard, from the RP Legal Group, said: 'These figures are incredibly high and indicate an issue within healthcare systems and protocols that must be revisited to prevent malpractice.
'Any form of negligence within the healthcare system should raise alarm
