IN-DEPTH
IN-DEPTH: Ethics under scrutiny as medical malpractice claims soar
As the medical litigation industry "explodes", as one medical malpractice attorney describes it, medical malpractice underwriters are questioning the sustainability of their insurance products. In an article in the August 2017 edition of Medical Protection Casebook, the chairman of MacRobert Attorneys, Leon Kelbrick, said that in 2011-16, the number of claims against healthcare professionals in SA rose by 35%, and the value of the claims during this period had increased 121%. Kelbrick said when he started his career in law, a claim of R200,000 was considered large; but today claims of more than R20m are not considered excessive, and he has settled a claim of more than R34m. The fundamental causes of escalating medical malpractice court cases are changes in the legal landscape, growth in contingency fee litigation, larger awards made by the courts and poor management at hospitals, says David Campbell, GM of GPLA, an underwriting management agent on behalf of Lloyd’s of London. Attorn...
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