Justia Pennsylvania Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

In 1998, Appellee Stephen Heim filed a professional liability action against two doctors and their medical practices alleging that their negligent care from 1992 to 1996 caused the death of his wife. In August 2000, Mr. Heim received a jury verdict for over $1 million. The jury attributed a substantial percentage of fault to Mrs. Heim, and apportioned the remaining liability among the defendant doctors, which they bore jointly and severally. At the time of the alleged negligent acts, the doctors each maintained primary professional liability insurance coverage for $200,000 per occurrence under a policy issued by a private insurer. That insurer went bankrupt, and the policy was assumed by the Pennsylvania Property and Casualty Association (PPCIGA). Excess liability protection was provided to health care providers through a government-run contingency fund known as the Medical Professional Liability Catastrophe Loss Fund (CAT Fund). It was determined that the primary insurance policy left a $100,000 shortfall in order to satisfy Mr. Heimâs judgment. The CAT Fund determined it had no responsibility to redress the shortfall from the primary insurerâs bankruptcy. With no insurance money to protect them, Mr. Heim sued against the doctorsâ assets seeking to recover the unpaid portion of the judgment that neither the insurance company nor the CAT Fund would pay. The Commonwealth Court ruled in Mr. Heimâs favor, but in accordance with joint and several liability, applied the order to both PPCIGA and the CAT Fund. The Fund appealed to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court found that under the statutory scheme that governs the CAT Fund, the facts of this case clearly implicated the Fundâs responsibility to the doctors to pay for the $100,000 shortfall left by their primary insurance policy. Accordingly, the Court affirmed the decision of the Commonwealth Court.