Seminars in Diagnostic Pathology
Volume 24, Issue 2 , Pages 119-130 , May 2007

Will my malpractice case be settled? The physician-defendant’s voice in the decision

  • William H. Archambault, L.L.M., JD

      Affiliations

    • Corresponding Author InformationAddress reprint requests and correspondence: William H. Archambault, L.L.M., JD, Piedmont Liability Trust, 1020 Ednam Center, Suite 100, Charlottesville, VA 22903.

References 

  1. Thorpe KE: “The Medical Malpractice ‘Crisis’: Recent Trends and the Impact of State Tort Reforms” (paper presented at the Council on Health Care Economics and Policy conference, “Medical Malpractice in Crisis: Health Care Policy Options,” Washington, D.C., March 3, 2003); and Congressional Budget Office calculations based on data from the Physician Insurers Association of America
  2. Physician Insurers Association of America. Data Sharing Project, 2005 Claim Trend Analysis
  3. Medical Malpractice Insurance. Multiple Factors Have Contributed to Increased Premium Rates; Government Accounting Office Report 03-702. 2003;June
  4. Congressional Budget Office, Economic and Budget Issue Brief (Limiting Tort Liability for Medical Malpractice). 2004;January 8
  5. American Medical Association. States in Crisis, January 2006. Available at http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/noindex/category/11871.html. Accessed December 12, 2006
  6. Mello MM, Studdert DM, Brennan TA. The new medical malpractice crisis. N Engl J Med. 2003;348:2281–2284
  7. Atlanta International Insurance Co. v. Bell, 181 Mich. App. 272, 274, 448 N.W. 2d 804, 805 (1989); In re The Rules of Professional Conduct, 299 Mon. 321, 333, 2 P3d 806, 814 (2000); Feiberty v. Damon, 72 NY2d 112, 120, 527 N.E. 2d 261,265 (1988); Tank v. State Farm, 105 Wn. 2d 381, 388, 715 P. 2d 1133 (1986), and Washington State Bar Assoc. Formal Ethics Opinion 195
  8. Oregon State Bar Formal Ethics Opinions 2005-30, 2005-77, and 2005-121
  9. ABA Model Code of Professional Responsibility, Disciplinary Rule 4-101. 1983;
  10. ABA Model Code of Professional Responsibility, Disciplinary Rules 7-101 and 7-102. 1983;
  11. ABA Formal Ethics Opinion 01-421 (Ethical obligations of a lawyer working under insurance company guidelines and other restrictions). 2001;
  12. Cowen FN. Commentary: insurance defense—past, present and future (Virginia Assoc. of Defense Attys). J Civ Litig. 2000;Vol XII:No. 1, Spring
  13. ABA Model Code of Professional Responsibility, Disciplinary Rule 5-101. 1983;
  14. Kohn LT, Corrigan JM, Donaldson MS. To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System. Washington DC: Institute of Medicine; 1999;
  15. Weller PC, Hiatt HH, Johnson WG, et al. A Measure of Malpractice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; 1993;
  16. Studdert DM, Mello MM, Gawande AA, et al. Claims, errors and compensation payments in medical malpractice litigation. N Engl J Med. 2006;354:19
  17. Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 231 §60B.
  18. Va. Code Ann. §8.-1-581.2 et. seq
  19. Northwest Physicians Insurance Company, General Information, Board of Directors Advisory Council. Available at. http://www.npmic.com/html/generalinformation.asp. Accessed December 14, 2006.
  20. Danner D. Medical Malpractice: A Primer for Physicians. Rochester, NY: The Lawyers Co-operative Publishing Co; 1988;
  21. Cassat JD. Dear Dad: will this jury find me guilty of malpractice?. Med Econ. 1991;68:44–48
  22. 45 Code of Federal Regulations §60.7, 1989
  23. Delaware Medical Practice Act, Title 24, Delaware Code, Sec. 1730
  24. Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Virginia, Washington, as reported by the National Conference of State Legislatures, Medical Malpractice Tort Reform. Available at http://www.ncsl.org/standcomm/sclaw/medmalataglance.htm. Accessed December 19, 2006.
  25. Merenstein v. St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company, United States District Court, Eastern District of Virginia, Alexandria Division, Civil Action No. 04-0139.

 Throughout this article, the insurance company will be referred to as “the insurer.”

PII: S0740-2570(07)00051-2

doi: 10.1053/j.semdp.2007.03.009

Seminars in Diagnostic Pathology
Volume 24, Issue 2 , Pages 119-130 , May 2007