Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • COVID-19
    • Articles & podcasts
    • Blog posts
    • Collection
    • News
  • Content
    • Current issue
    • Past issues
    • Early releases
    • Collections
    • Sections
    • Blog
    • Infographics & illustrations
    • Podcasts
    • Classified ads
  • Authors
    • Overview for authors
    • Submission guidelines
    • Submit a manuscript
    • Forms
    • Editorial process
    • Editorial policies
    • Peer review process
    • Publication fees
    • Reprint requests
  • CMA Members
    • Overview for members
    • Earn CPD Credits
    • Print copies of CMAJ
    • Career Ad Discount
  • Subscribers
    • General information
    • View prices
  • Alerts
    • Email alerts
    • RSS
  • JAMC
    • À propos
    • Numéro en cours
    • Archives
    • Sections
    • Abonnement
    • Alertes
  • CMAJ JOURNALS
    • CMAJ Open
    • CJS
    • JAMC
    • JPN

User menu

Search

  • Advanced search
CMAJ
  • CMAJ JOURNALS
    • CMAJ Open
    • CJS
    • JAMC
    • JPN
CMAJ

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • COVID-19
    • Articles & podcasts
    • Blog posts
    • Collection
    • News
  • Content
    • Current issue
    • Past issues
    • Early releases
    • Collections
    • Sections
    • Blog
    • Infographics & illustrations
    • Podcasts
    • Classified ads
  • Authors
    • Overview for authors
    • Submission guidelines
    • Submit a manuscript
    • Forms
    • Editorial process
    • Editorial policies
    • Peer review process
    • Publication fees
    • Reprint requests
  • CMA Members
    • Overview for members
    • Earn CPD Credits
    • Print copies of CMAJ
    • Career Ad Discount
  • Subscribers
    • General information
    • View prices
  • Alerts
    • Email alerts
    • RSS
  • JAMC
    • À propos
    • Numéro en cours
    • Archives
    • Sections
    • Abonnement
    • Alertes
  • Visit CMAJ on Facebook
  • Follow CMAJ on Twitter
  • Follow CMAJ on Pinterest
  • Follow CMAJ on Youtube
  • Follow CMAJ on Instagram
SynopsisM

Cross-border malpractice coverage cancelled

Tim Lougheed
CMAJ August 31, 2004 171 (5) 438-438-a; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.1041247
Tim Lougheed
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Figures & Tables
  • Responses
  • Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

After more than a decade of warning members about the litigation risks of treating Americans, the Canadian Medical Protective Association (CMPA) will no longer cover doctors who willingly take them on. The association cites an “unstable” insurance situation in the United States as a major impetus for this policy.

Figure1
  • Download figure
  • Open in new tab
  • Download powerpoint

Figure. Dr. Harold Silver says Americans are attracted to his Toronto clinic becausee of lower surgery costs and Canada's stellar health care reputation. Photo by: Canapress

“The costs of settling or even defending these cases is now so high that we're seeing many medical malpractice insurers in the United States either abandoning the market or driving up their premiums to the point where physicians can't afford malpractice insurance,” says Dr. John Gray, CMPA executive director and CEO.

The American Medical Association has declared 20 states “in crisis” because insurance costs have driven physicians away, compromising health care.

“Despite our ... warnings to members about avoiding legal actions, we saw more and more members who actually were ... increasing their exposure by actively soliciting American patients,” says Gray.

American clients seek lower prices for procedures such as cosmetic surgery in Canada.

The CMPA's new policy, which came into effect in January 2004, applies only to elective procedures. Doctors treating non-Canadians in cases of emergency, or for humanitarian reasons, will still be covered.

Vaughan Black, a University of Dalhousie law professor, has studied cases of damage compensation across the US–Canada border. The CMPA's concerns appear to be justified, he says. While he knows of no cross-border medical malpractice suits, a Supreme Court decision late last year (Beals v. Saldanha, 2003) upheld the major damages a US court awarded against a defendant in Canada involved in a real estate dispute here.

Black suggests the Supreme Court decision would limit the ability of Canadian courts to refuse medical malpractice settlements.

The CMPA provides members with unlimited coverage, which may be an enticing target for US litigants, says Gray. “A single legal action could wipe out CMPA's reserves.” — Tim Lougheed, Ottawa

PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

Canadian Medical Association Journal: 171 (5)
CMAJ
Vol. 171, Issue 5
31 Aug 2004
  • Table of Contents
  • Index by author

Article tools

Respond to this article
Print
Download PDF
Article Alerts
To sign up for email alerts or to access your current email alerts, enter your email address below:
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on CMAJ.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Cross-border malpractice coverage cancelled
(Your Name) has sent you a message from CMAJ
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the CMAJ web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
Cross-border malpractice coverage cancelled
Tim Lougheed
CMAJ Aug 2004, 171 (5) 438-438-a; DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.1041247

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
‍ Request Permissions
Share
Cross-border malpractice coverage cancelled
Tim Lougheed
CMAJ Aug 2004, 171 (5) 438-438-a; DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.1041247
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
  • Figures & Tables
  • Responses
  • Metrics
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • PubMed
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • No citing articles found.
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • A newborn requiring selective bronchial intubation
  • Does β-blocker prophylaxis improve survival after major noncardiac surgery?
  • The changing ecology of avian flu
Show more Synopsis

Similar Articles

Collections

  • Topics
    • Patient safety & quality improvement
    • Medical consequences of conflict
    • Humanitarian medicine

Content

  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • Collections
  • Sections
  • Blog
  • Podcasts
  • Alerts
  • RSS
  • Early releases

Information for

  • Advertisers
  • Authors
  • Reviewers
  • CMA Members
  • Media
  • Reprint requests
  • Subscribers

About

  • General Information
  • Journal staff
  • Editorial Board
  • Governance Council
  • Journal Oversight
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Copyright and Permissions

Copyright 2021, Joule Inc. or its licensors. All rights reserved. ISSN 1488-2329 (e) 0820-3946 (p)

All editorial matter in CMAJ represents the opinions of the authors and not necessarily those of the Canadian Medical Association or its subsidiaries.

Powered by HighWire