Mass. Doctors Liable for Patients’ Lessened Chance of Survival

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has ruled that physicians can be held liable in a wrongful death action when their negligence lessens a patient’s chance of survival.

The ruling, which for the first time upholds the “loss of chance” doctrine, came in an appeal of case where a jury found that a physician’s negligence deprived his patient of a less than even chance of surviving stomach cancer.

“Where a physician’s negligence reduces or eliminates the patient’s prospects for achieving a more favorable medical outcome, the physician has harmed the patient and is liable for damages,” wrote Chief Justice Margaret Marshall.

The court said that permitting recovery for loss of chance is “particularly appropriate in the area of medical negligence” but added that the decision is limited to such claims.

The defendants claimed that the state’s wrongful death statute does not recognize loss of chance and that there was no evidence that the doctor’s actions contributed substantially to his patient’s death.

But the high court sided with the jury on the appeal, ruling that the loss of chance doctrine “views a person’s prospects for surviving a serious medical condition as something of value, even if the possibility of recovery was less than even prior to the physician’s tortious conduct.”

In a brief filed along with the case, a liability watchdog group representing insurers and medical providers expressed concern that a ruling in favor of the last chance doctrine could lead to higher malpractice insurance costs for doctors and hospitals.