In a bad faith claim arising from a medical malpractice action, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit imposed a 1:1 ratio between compensatory and punitive damages in its ruling issued on December 24, 2008.

Jurinko v. The Medical Protective Co., Nos. 06-3519 & 06-3666, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 26263 (December 24, 2008). The bad faith claim against The Medical Protective Company ("Medical Protective") was based upon its conduct in an underlying medical malpractice action venued in state court in Pennsylvania brought by plaintiffs Stephen and Cynthia Jurinko ("the Jurinkos") against Stephen Jurinko's treating physician Dr. Paul Marcincin, the pathologist who read Mr. Jurinko's pathology slides and the company who employed the pathologist for failure to diagnose cancer.

The Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas jury rendered a $2.5 million verdict against Medical Protective's insured, which was $1.3 million more than defendant Dr. Marcincin's coverage. Dr. Marcincin settled with the Jurinkos for his policy limits of $1.2 million and an assignment of his insurance bad faith claim against Medical Protective. Dr. Marcincin's policy limit consisted of a $200,000 primary policy and $1 million from a catastrophic loss fund, which was an excess insurer.

Read the full article here on the Duane Morris website.