Veterinarians are no longer immune from malpractice litigation. Is it time to buy professional liability insurance or upgrade your current policy?
Veterinary medicine has traditionally been the land that malpractice litigation forgot. Because the legal system generally considered pets to be property, if they got hurt or died as a result of veterinary treatment, damages were limited to the pet’s economic replacement cost. Their owners could also sue for out-of-pocket expenses such as the negligent vet’s fee. Punitive damages were only possible when the vet caused intentional, malicious injury. Boy, have times changed.
Today, state courts are beginning to treat lawsuits against veterinarians as regular physician malpractice. That is to say, they’re considering non-economic values such as owner pain and suffering when assessing damages. With potential payouts much larger than ever, it’s no surprise pet parents are seeking legal relief when their animals die after treatment. And veterinarians are ensuring they have the necessary insurance needed to protect their businesses and personal assets against upset patients.
Although vet malpractice cases are still rarer than those in human medicine, they are growing in frequency and size. Judgments in the tens of thousands of dollars are common. Plus, as people bond more deeply with their pets, they tend to suffer more when they pass on. Pet owners also spend more with each passing year, increasing their financial stake in them – in fact, the US pet industry grew to $99 billion in 2020 as pet owners are spending more and more on their four-legged children (APPA). Result: you can expect more malpractice litigation to affect your practice in coming years. Is this what you expected when you graduated from veterinary school?
Consider the Risks
Caring for animals is inherently risky. As organisms with complex anatomical structures and disease processes, it’s easy for vets to make mistakes. In fact, given this complexity, it’s surprising they don’t make more mistakes than they do. Here are some common ones:
- Failing to meet professional standards of care by promptly and correctly diagnosing a pet’s medical condition.
- Providing the wrong treatment or surgery or executing the correct procedure improperly
- Injuring a pet under your care, even if someone other than you inflicted the injury
- Allowing an animal to escape your facility resulting in injury or death by passing vehicles
- Treating an animal species without proper training or experience with its care
- Failing to make a referral to an appropriate specialist for complex cases
Sometimes these and other mistakes are self-limiting and don’t result in litigation. Other times, they cause pet owners financial loss and/or emotional suffering. When either of those outcomes is large enough, pet owners will likely bring suit against you. Here are the some of claims they may file in court:
- Malpractice
- Negligence
- Infliction of emotional pain and suffering
- Failing to execute a bailee’s duty (taking good care of a pet while it’s in the vet’s custody)
- Violating a contract
- Engaging in deceptive trade practices
Sometimes a malpractice lawsuit might involve multiple issues, which will increase its complexity and may lead to higher attorney defense costs.
The point is, the risks of practicing veterinary medicine are acute and pervasive. In fact, they silently accompany you during every pet examination or treatment session. And when there is a violation in professional standards of care, costly malpractice claims will likely ensue.
What is Veterinary Malpractice?
Veterinary malpractice is quite similar to medical malpractice. It occurs when a vet causes harm to an animal due to his or her ineptitude, error in judgment or carelessness. But it’s important to realize that an animal that doesn’t get better isn’t synonymous with malpractice. For those seeking to prevail in a malpractice action, they must be able to prove four things:
- Their pet was under the formal care of the vet
- The vet violated professional care standards as promulgated by the person’s state veterinary medical board
- The animal died, was injured or got worse because the vet failed to deliver proper care
- As a result of the vet’s care, the animal’s owner suffered a financial or emotional loss, otherwise known as “damages.”
The American Veterinary Medicine Association doesn’t release statistics about the number of vets sued each year and how much it costs to settle these claims. But based on anecdotal evidence, it’s likely that the industry’s claim expenses have grown substantially in recent years. Have you protected yourself against them?
Enter Veterinary Professional Liability Insurance
Professional liability insurance, also known as malpractice insurance, mitigates the risks of caring for dogs, cats and other animals. It’s a type of insurance that covers the expenses of defending yourself against claims of professional negligence. How does it work? It generates funds to hire a lawyer as well as to pay for financial judgments or settlements if you lose your case. Not only does this policy shield your personal and business assets against client claims, it also pays attorneys to make nuisance lawsuits go away.
How does professional liability insurance work? Simply put, it covers you when you make a mistake or forget to do something important, which financially injures a pet owner. Based on your policy’s insuring clause, the insurer will:
- Supply you with an approved defense attorney at no expense to you
- Assign a claims adjuster to handle your case
- Pay for your attorney’s fees and administrative expenses
- Compensate an expert witness to strengthen your legal defense
- Cover arbitration, mediation or other forms of alternative dispute resolution
- Pay for court administrative expenses
The total cost to resolve your case can easily reach six figures or more. As long as you keep your policy in force and your costs have exceeded your policy’s deductible (your cost-sharing amount), your insurer will pay your legal expenses. However, be aware that your policy won’t pay under certain conditions. These are spelled out in the exclusions section of your policy.
Common exclusions include:
- Losses resulting from dishonest, fraudulent, criminal or malicious activities or those that willfully violate the law
- Cases involving litigation settled before your policy’s inception date or that are pending at that date
- Claims that benefit a family member
- Requests for payment of regulatory fines you incurred
- Disputes flowing from professional activities not listed in the policy document
- Litigation against you that’s part of a broader class-action lawsuit
The Benefits of Veterinary Professional Liability Insurance
Why do you need this form of insurance?
Because it . . .
- Reduces financial uncertainty. It replaces a large, unknown risk (the chance of getting sued) with a smaller, known expense (a periodic insurance premium). Most vets realize that certainty is better than uncertainty when it comes to practice finances.
- Provides quick access to a skilled defense attorney. If you get sued, you’ll need to select an attorney fast. But finding a good one can be difficult. When you have professional liability insurance, your insurer will provide you with a well versed lawyer to immediately launch your defense.
- Lessens worry and stress. Until you’ve been sued, you’ll have no idea how upsetting the experience can be. It raises the likelihood you’ll be found liable for a large settlement or judgment. If you don’t have liquid assets to cover this amount, you may have to sell off business and/or personal assets or even declare bankruptcy. Getting sued also raises questions about your professional competence, which often become public. When you have insurance, your policy will pay for an attorney to have the claim dismissed or settled out of court, if possible. Having support for both the financial and emotional stress of being sued is a big reason to have professional liability insurance.
- Builds client trust. Your customers need and want a true veterinary professional. Being insured is an excellent way to prove you’re that person. It demonstrates you will take responsibility for your errors while treating their pet and make them whole financially.
- Covers the risks general liability insurance doesn’t. Many vets think their general liability insurance or business owner’s policy (BOP) covers their professional mistakes. They do not; they only cover third-party injuries and property damage, not mistakes you make while treating animals. If you want protection against client lawsuits due to claims of negligence, you’ll need coverage from veterinary professional liability insurance.
What to Look for in a Professional Liability Insurer
Given the importance of protecting your business against client lawsuits, it’s crucial to pick an insurer that will stand behind you. Here are some things to look for:
- Experience with your type of veterinary practice
- An established track record of claim payment
- A strong reputation in the veterinary field
- Responsive client service
- Top ratings from insurance analysts like A.M. Best and Standard & Poor’s
- Ability to provide legal advice at the first sign of a client dispute (via a hotline)
- Risk management content to promote safe clinical and business practices
Once you’re comfortable with the quality and stability of the insurance company, carefully read its proposed policy. A full discussion of its features is beyond the scope of this article, but two important ones bear mentioning: adequate limits and covered professional duties. Small-animal veterinarians should purchase a minimum limit (total protection) of $1 to $2 million per claim incident. If you work with herds of high-value animals, you’ll likely need a higher amount. Equally important is whether the policy covers your precise veterinary duties. Carefully examine the activities listed in the policy to make sure they match up with your professional duties.
In short, the practice of veterinary medicine is getting increasingly risky. The possibility of getting sued means vets’ business and personal assets are at risk. Do you want to protect those assets and reduce the stress of practicing veterinary medicine in these increasingly litigious times? Then consider purchasing robust professional liability insurance from an insurance provider you can trust.
360 Coverage Pros offers a veterinarianprofessional liability insurance program that checks all the boxes. Our new vet program features a segment-leading online application that lets you click and bind your coverage to receive instant proof of insurance. To learn more, visit our website.