Settlement Comparison Tool
See where a medical malpractice offer falls among 215,524 payments reported to the National Practitioner Data Bank (2004–2025) — for the same state and the same injury severity. The tool shows the 25th percentile, median and 75th percentile of those payments and where your amount sits.
Last reviewed: 2026-10-06
Data: NPDB Public Use Data File (U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration). Medical malpractice payments only, in reported dollars, not adjusted for inflation.
For medical malpractice offers. Compares an amount with payments reported to the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) for the same state and injury severity.
The gross amount, before attorney fees and costs.
Recorded payments: Significant Permanent Injury, California
2,528 payments reported to the NPDB, 2004–2025, in reported dollars (not adjusted for inflation).
- 25th percentile
- $61,250
- Median
- $195,000
- 75th percentile
- $425,000
National median for this severity: $245,000 (30,071 payments).
Older payments count at their original dollar value. Nationally, payments in this group reported 2016–2025 had a median of $305,000.
Not a medical malpractice case? The NPDB records only payments for health care practitioners, so this comparison does not apply. For other injuries:
Source: NPDB Public Use Data File — 215,524 payments with a recorded severity and U.S. work state, 2004–2025. General information, not legal advice.
Revisado Editorialmente — Contenido revisado en cuanto a exactitud utilizando investigación legal publicada, datos gubernamentales y registros judiciales verificados. Vea nuestra metodología
Reviewed by Leonard Goldberg, Editor · Last updated
Where the Numbers Come From
When an insurer or other organization pays a written malpractice claim or judgment for the benefit of a physician, dentist, nurse or other health care practitioner, it must report the payment to the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB). Since January 31, 2004, each report also records the severity of the alleged injury on a fixed scale, from “Emotional Injury Only” to “Death”. The federal government publishes these reports without names in its Public Use Data File.
The tool uses every report processed 2004–2025 that has a payment, a severity level and one of the 50 states or DC as the practitioner’s work state: 215,524 payments. Reports marked “Cannot Be Determined” and reports without a work state are left out. Where a state has fewer than 30 payments at a severity level, the tool shows the national figures instead and says so.
Three things to keep in mind when reading the figures:
- One record is one payment for one practitioner. When a claim names several practitioners, a separate report is filed for each. Payments made only on behalf of a hospital or clinic, and payments a practitioner makes out of personal funds, are not reported to the NPDB. A patient’s total recovery can therefore be larger than any single record.
- Dollars are as reported. The NPDB publishes each amount as the midpoint of a range (for example, $32,500 for a payment between $30,001 and $35,000) and does not adjust for inflation. A payment from 2004 counts at its 2004 value, so recent payments tend to run higher than the figures for the whole period.
- Severity is the only case detail. The records do not show how clear liability was, the medical bills, lost income, insurance limits or a state’s damage caps — all of which move individual results.
National Figures by Severity
All states + DC, payments processed 2004–2025. The middle half is the range from the 25th to the 75th percentile.
| Severity (NPDB) | Median | Middle half | Median 2016–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Emotional Injury Only4,327 payments | $32,500 | $12,500–$97,500 | $47,500 |
| Insignificant Injury6,762 payments | $12,500 | $6,250–$32,500 | $12,500 |
| Minor Temporary Injury33,226 payments | $32,500 | $12,500–$87,500 | $42,500 |
| Major Temporary Injury23,539 payments | $125,000 | $47,500–$245,000 | $155,000 |
| Minor Permanent Injury28,060 payments | $97,500 | $42,500–$245,000 | $145,000 |
| Significant Permanent Injury30,071 payments | $245,000 | $125,000–$495,000 | $305,000 |
| Major Permanent Injury21,443 payments | $395,000 | $185,000–$765,000 | $495,000 |
| Quadriplegic, Brain Damage, Lifelong Care9,556 payments | $595,000 | $265,000–$995,000 | $655,000 |
| Death58,540 payments | $235,000 | $97,500–$495,000 | $265,000 |
The scale is not a straight line in dollars: the median payment for a death ($235,000) is lower than for several injuries the patient survives, such as “Quadriplegic, Brain Damage, Lifelong Care” ($595,000). Our death-discount analysis looks at why.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does an offer above the median mean it is fair?
Not by itself. The comparison shows how an amount relates to past payments at the same severity level in the same state. Whether an offer fits a particular claim depends on facts the records do not contain, such as liability, the medical costs, lost income and the available insurance. A malpractice attorney can assess those.
Why only medical malpractice?
The NPDB records each malpractice payment together with the practitioner’s work state and a standard severity level, which is what makes a like-for-like comparison possible. We know of no public national registry that records car-accident, slip-and-fall or other injury settlements payment by payment. For those claims, use the car accident, slip and fall or workers’ compensation calculators.
Which severity level should I choose?
The levels are the NPDB’s own categories, from emotional injury through temporary and permanent injuries of increasing seriousness to death. Pick the one that best describes the lasting effect of the injury; if two seem possible, compare both. The level stored in the NPDB is the one given in the payment report.
Why does my state show national figures?
Some states have very few reported payments at certain severity levels. Below 30 payments a percentile range would mostly reflect a handful of cases, so the tool shows the national figures for that level instead and states how many payments the state has.
Is this legal advice?
No. It is general information drawn from public data. Settlement releases are usually final, so it is worth having an attorney review an offer before you sign.