Medical malpractice claims approach

What’s your worst-case medical malpractice claim scenario?  

For many doctors, the answer that sitting in a courtroom, being grilled by a lawyer on treatment decisions made several years ago, is about as bad as they can imagine.
From a professional point of view, however, a worse scenario might be having a malpractice judgment recorded against your name.  Even a favourable judgment can be damaging.

If a prospective patient googles your name and a malpractice judgment appears in the results, your chances of being consulted have just dropped to zero.

For most doctors who are the subject of a malpractice claim, defending the claim and clearing their good name is a priority, particularly if they believe that they have done nothing wrong.

At the same time, no good Medical Malpractice Insurance insurer wants to settle a claim that has no merit.

So what is the right course of action?  Doctors in Singapore often have lawyers appointed to defend them as a first response to notifying a claim.  While a good lawyer is an indispensable ally in claims defence, they are only part of the solution.  The decision on whether to fight a claim in the courts needs to be carefully considered.

Before you talk to a lawyer, you need to consider your best defence strategy. 

When you take out a Howden Medical Malpractice Insurance policy, you are hiring the most experienced malpractice claims team in Asia.  The Howden Health team has been managing malpractice claims in Singapore since 2006, and actively negotiated the settlement of the largest malpractice out-of-court settlement made in Singapore to date.  

With our claims team on your side, you can rest assured that your interests will be protected.

Our Legal Panel

Once a decision has been made to appoint a lawyer, choosing the right law firm is critical.  Malpractice claims are a specialized area, and not every firm has the knowledge or experience to handle them correctly.  

The right choice of law firm can mean the difference between achieving a swift resolution and having your photo appear on the front page of The Straits Times.

Our panel of approved legal firms have been chosen based on their proven abilities in malpractice case management, demonstrated over a long period of time.  Our firms are:
•    The Legal Clinic
•    Dentons Rodyk and Davison
•    Allen and Gledhill
•    Rajah and Tann

To date, the largest malpractice award in Singapore is the judgment against two treating doctors in the Franklin Heng case. Two of our panel firms, The Legal Clinic and Dentons Rodyk and Davison, acted for parties in this important case.  When it comes to protecting your reputation, this is the kind of expertise and experience you need.