From time to time a doctor’s insurance will be a question on the minds of some families when they are dealing with a birth injury or medical malpractice claim. Essentially what these clients want to know is will the jury know that in many cases the doctor is not paying any verdict out of their personal money but through the use of insurance?
Please remember that the information that I am providing in this educational article and supporting video is general in nature. If you have specific questions as to this issue and your set of facts be sure to speak with your attorney about these concerns.
WHY BIRTH INJURY & MEDICAL MALPRACTICE CASES CAN BE DIFFERENT…
Before explaining the insurance issue I would like to help you understand how we prove medical malpractice in general. Medical malpractice cases in many ways can be different from say a car collision case. In some car collision cases the use of medical experts to testify at trial may not be needed. This is not the case for medical malpractice cases.
In Maryland medical experts are needed to give opinions and testify as to things like the standard of care and causation. Other experts may also be needed to help explain the damages portion of the case.
Essentially, these experts will testify as to the applicable standard of care in the case and whether the treating doctors or medical professionals deviated from the standard of care causing the baby’s injury in a birth trauma case or a patient’s injury in a medical malpractice case.
A DOCTOR’S INSURANCE AND BIRTH INJURY…
So now we go to the question of bringing up the fact that a doctor may have medical malpractice insurance and explaining that to the jury in a medical malpractice or birth injury case. If you analyze what I said above regarding the standard of care and causation you should be able to see that the fact that a doctor has medical malpractice insurance is a irrelevant as to these questions of standard of care and causation of the injury.
In a jury trial the Rules of Evidence will not allow for irrelevant or confusing evidence for the jury to consider. The fact that a medical doctor may have medical malpractice insurance plays no role in a jury’s analysis of whether there was a departure from the standard of care which caused the injury. As a result, in many instances the fact that the doctor or nurse has insurance will not be admitted into evidence or will not be something that the jury will know or take into consideration when delivering their verdict.
If you have more questions regarding your child’s injury at birth there is a telephone number below that you can use to reach me. I talk with families all the time about birth trauma and birth injury related conditions like HIE and CP and I would be happy to listen to your story.
Marcus B. Boston, Esq.
2 Wisconsin Circle, Suite 700
Chevy Chase, Maryland 20815
1-833-4 BABY HELP
