You know that you can be sued for negligence, and you assume that your professional liability insurance will indemnify you for any losses suffered as a result. This is generally a correct assumption. The question that sometimes arises is this: suppose the plaintiff is also seeking punitive damages; are these judgments covered as well? The answer to this question is, generally, no. It is rare that punitive damages are ever awarded in medical malpractice actions and even rarer that they are upheld on appeal, but it does happen. Johannesen v Salem Hospital, 82 P.3d 139 (Ore. 2003), gives us a good overview concerning the issue of punitive damages and the elements a plaintiff must prove to be successful in having them awarded.
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