Recent Minnesota News
December 2019 Newsletter
Personal injury attorneys target definition of a patient With courts increasingly reviewing physician liability for patients they have never treated, the answer to what defines a patient could shape the future of access to care. The issue stems from a recent case in...
More physicians being sued by patients they’ve never treated
SOURCE: American Medical Association Can physicians be held liable in cases in which they’ve never treated the patients experiencing the adverse outcome? That’s a question that is increasingly being put before the courts, and one explored during a recent education...
May 2019 Newsletter
Minnesota liability ruling trends towards dangerous precedent for patients Setting a troubling precedent that could limit collaborative patient care efforts, the Minnesota Supreme Court recently ruled in favor of expanding liability and opening the door for an...
Current Medical Liability Laws
| Damage Caps | None |
| Joint Liability Reform | Pursuant to the plain language of Minnesota Statutes § 604.02, an employer subject to workers’ compensation laws cannot be held jointly and severally liable with a third-party tortfeasor, and thus third party tortfeasor is liable for the entire verdict awarded in a civil suit with no reduction for the employer’s fault. Fish v. Ramler Trucking, Inc., 935 N.W.2d 738 (Minn. 2019). Yes. Joint and several liability law is abolished except for the following persons: persons who are greater than 50% at fault, persons who engage in a common scheme or plan that causes the injury, persons who commit an intentional tort, or persons whose liability is based on an environmental or similar statute. |
| Collateral Source Reform | Yes. Within 10 days of the verdict and upon motion of a party. In such cases, the court must reduce the award by the amount received from collateral sources. Such reduction shall be offset by any amount paid by the plaintiff to secure the award. |
| Attorney Fees Limited | If the fees for legal services provided to the plaintiff are based on a percentage of the amount of money awarded to the plaintiff, the percentage must be based on the amount of the award as adjusted under subdivision 3. Any subrogated provider of a collateral source not separately represented by counsel shall pay the same percentage of attorney fees as paid by the plaintiff and shall pay its proportionate share of the costs. |
| Periodic Payments Permitted | Yes. Court must hold hearing in cases where future damages exceed $100,000 to allow the claimant to consider if damages should be paid periodically. |