Fabrizio v. Provena United Samaritans Med. Ctr.

MALPRACTICE INSURANCE

Fabrizio v. Provena United
Samaritans Med. Ctr., No. 4-05-0586 (Ill. App. Ct. May 24, 2006)

Several doctors
on the medical staff of a hospital filed suit seeking a declaration of their
rights with regard to the minimum malpractice insurance coverage required
under the medical staff bylaws. The doctors alleged that the hospital breached
the bylaws by passing a resolution increasing the minimum coverage from $200,000
per occurrence, $600,000 in the aggregate, to $1,000,000/$3,000,000. The
trial court ruled in the physicians’ favor. That decision was reversed by the
Appellate Court of Illinois. The Court of Appeals noted that the bylaws required
the Board and MEC to agree on the malpractice insurance limits. The court then
ruled that the MEC had agreed on those limits even if the staff subsequently
rejected the MEC’s recommendation. As such, the Court of Appeals ruled that
the increase in the malpractice insurance limits was consistent with the
medical staff bylaws.