Florida Medical Malpractice Claim Costs Approach $2B as Premium Rates Rise

October 15, 2026 by matray

Medical malpractice claims closed in Florida during 2025 generated nearly $2 billion in indemnity and loss-adjustment expenses, an increase of 7.8% from the previous year, as the statewide medical malpractice combined ratio rose above 100% and approved physician rate changes averaged 5.4%.

The findings appear in the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation’s “Medical Malpractice Financial Information: 2026 Annual Report,” published Oct. 1. The report analyzes closed claims, insurer financial results and rate filings in one of the nation’s largest medical professional liability insurance markets.

Insurers and self-insured entities reported 3,619 medical malpractice claims closed during 2025. Those claims produced approximately $1.96 billion in lifetime indemnity and loss-adjustment expenses.

Hospital inpatient facilities were the most common injury location, accounting for approximately 45% of closed claims. Physicians’ offices accounted for 463 claims, while emergency departments accounted for 408.

Death was the largest injury-severity category, representing 1,158 claims, or 32% of the total. Another 141 claims involved quadriplegia or brain damage, while 232 involved paraplegia, blindness or the loss of multiple limbs.

Florida generated approximately $1.04 billion in direct written medical malpractice premium during 2025, making it the country’s third-largest state market by premium volume.

The state’s medical malpractice combined ratio increased to 101.4% from 97.1% in 2024.

Despite the deterioration, regulators concluded that Florida’s medical malpractice market remains profitable and sustainable. The 36 insurers representing 80% of the state’s premium produced a premium-weighted average IRIS Ratio 5 of 82.3%.

The report also found that medical malpractice coverage remains generally available without providers having to seek coverage through the Florida Medical Malpractice Joint Underwriting Association.

Licensed insurers generated 48.7% of Florida’s medical malpractice premium during 2025. Surplus-lines insurers accounted for 27.1%, while risk retention groups accounted for 22.2%.

Physicians and surgeons remained the largest segment of the market, producing 55.2% of written premium. Other healthcare professionals accounted for 20.8%, other medical facilities for 17.8% and hospitals for 6.3%.

Florida regulators approved or processed 101 medical malpractice filings during 2025, compared with 92 in 2024 and 104 in 2023.

Approved physician rate filings produced an average increase of 5.4%, weighted by the number of policies affected. Professional nurses experienced an average increase of 6.4%, while dentists’ rates increased 1.5%. Rates for podiatrists, optometrists, chiropractors and similar healthcare professionals increased an average of 0.1%.

HDI Global Expands Medical Malpractice Business Into International Markets

October 15, 2026 by matray

HDI Global has launched Global Healthcare Solutions, extending its established German medical malpractice business into an international offering for healthcare providers and care organizations.

The initiative combines specialized healthcare liability underwriting with the insurer’s international underwriting platform and local market capabilities. HDI said the expansion aims to serve a broader range of healthcare organizations as demographic shifts, digital technology and new models of care reshape their risks.

The expansion supports HDI’s Xcelerate29 growth strategy, according to Mukadder Erdönmez, an executive board member responsible for liability, cyber, motor and the U.S. market.

Colin Lavey was named head of Global Healthcare Solutions, effective Sept. 1. He joined HDI nine years ago and previously served as director of liability for the United Kingdom and Ireland and, most recently, executive underwriter for automotive.

Lavey will oversee development of the offering and international growth. He identified building a team, maintaining relationships with brokers and clients, and preserving underwriting discipline as priorities.

OpenEvidence, Johns Hopkins Medicine Partner to Develop AI Tools for Medical Education, Clinical Care

October 15, 2026 by matray

OpenEvidence and Johns Hopkins Medicine announced a strategic collaboration to develop artificial intelligence tools designed to reshape medical education and help physicians make clinical decisions using evidence-based guidelines and individual patient information.

The partnership, announced Oct. 13, will focus on two areas: developing a medical education model that prepares future physicians to practice in an AI-driven healthcare environment and creating clinical AI systems that integrate current medical research with patients’ medical histories and established treatment practices.

The organizations said the collaboration reflects the growing need to reconsider how physicians are trained and how they deliver care as AI systems become increasingly capable of retrieving, analyzing and synthesizing medical information.

Under the agreement, OpenEvidence and Johns Hopkins will work to develop an educational framework that emphasizes foundational medical knowledge, including pathophysiology, evidence-based medicine, diagnostic reasoning and interpersonal skills, while incorporating AI-powered learning systems.

The approach is intended to strengthen physicians’ clinical judgment and ability to evaluate complex medical information rather than rely exclusively on automated recommendations.

"Johns Hopkins designed modern medical education around a simple idea: that physicians learn medicine at the bedside, grounded in science and reasoning," said Sanjay Desai, MD, vice dean for education at Johns Hopkins Medicine. "The arrival of AI, in many ways, invites us back to the bedside with new tools and capabilities we have yet to fully imagine."

The clinical component of the partnership will focus on developing AI systems that synthesize medical evidence in the context of individual patients' medical histories and clinical practices established at Johns Hopkins Medicine.

The organizations said the systems will be designed to help clinicians evaluate relevant information more efficiently, apply evidence-based guidelines and make treatment decisions tailored to individual patients.

Sara Murray, MD, chief medical informatics and AI officer at Johns Hopkins Medicine, said the collaboration presents an opportunity to provide physicians with tools that make clinical encounters more informed, precise and responsive to individual patient needs.

The partnership also reflects a broader shift in the role of physicians as AI becomes more deeply integrated into clinical practice. Rather than replacing clinical decision-making, the organizations envision AI systems that support physicians while preserving their responsibility for diagnostic reasoning, contextual judgment and patient care.

"The question in front of medicine is not whether AI will change the physician's role — it is who will define that change, and on what principles," said Travis Zack, MD, PhD, chief medical officer of OpenEvidence.

OpenEvidence operates an AI-powered medical information platform that allows clinicians to obtain answers to clinical questions using information drawn from peer-reviewed medical literature. The company says its platform is used by millions of verified U.S. healthcare professionals and is available free to verified U.S. clinicians.

The organizations did not disclose financial terms of the collaboration or provide a timeline for introducing the proposed educational programs and clinical AI systems.

MedPro, Malpractice Litigation Central to Kimberly Guilfoyle Influence Scandal Ending Ambassadorship

October 15, 2026 by matray

A long-running medical malpractice dispute involving a fugitive Ohio spine surgeon and his professional liability insurer, Medical Protective, has emerged as a central element in allegations that Kimberly Guilfoyle, the U.S. ambassador to Greece, solicited money from a political donor in exchange for access to influential members of the Trump administration. The controversy culminated Oct. 13, when the Trump administration asked Guilfoyle to resign.

Eric Deters, a former Kentucky attorney and congressional candidate, alleges that Guilfoyle asked him to pay a $100,000 American Express credit card bill in exchange for political assistance. The assistance he sought involved efforts to extradite former spine surgeon Abubakar Durrani, MD, from Pakistan and investigate allegations that Medical Protective helped the physician flee the United States to avoid prosecution and medical malpractice litigation.

Medical Protective has denied wrongdoing in its dealings with Durrani and is pursuing separate federal litigation against Deters, accusing him of engaging in an abusive campaign of litigation, threats and attempted extortion against the insurer and its executives.

The controversy gained national attention last week following reporting by The Wall Street Journal and subsequent interviews with Deters on MS NOW and PBS NewsHour.

Durrani, a former Cincinnati-area spine surgeon, fled to Pakistan in 2013 while facing federal healthcare fraud charges and numerous medical malpractice lawsuits alleging that he performed unnecessary spinal procedures. His departure complicated efforts by former patients to pursue compensation for their alleged injuries.

Deters, who previously represented Durrani patients and retains a financial interest in the litigation, has spent years seeking the surgeon’s extradition and questioning the role of Durrani’s medical professional liability insurer.

In an Oct. 9 PBS NewsHour interview, Deters said he had sought help from Guilfoyle and other politically connected individuals to secure Durrani’s return.

“My motive in all of this is revenge, for lack of a better word, for their not helping the Dr. Durrani victims,” Deters told PBS anchor Amna Nawaz.

Deters alleged that he had already paid Guilfoyle $300,000 and promised an additional $1 million if she helped advance his efforts. He said Guilfoyle subsequently requested another $100,000 to pay her American Express bill.

He characterized the proposed arrangement as an exchange of money for political influence.

“That’s absolutely correct,” Deters said when Nawaz asked whether Guilfoyle had offered assistance in exchange for payment.

Guilfoyle’s attorney has maintained that payments to her were not part of a quid pro quo but were instead compensation for speaking engagements and appearances at political events.

The dispute involving Medical Protective extends beyond the political controversy.

MedPro Group and The Medical Protective Company filed a federal lawsuit against Deters in 2025, alleging that he engaged in a prolonged campaign to pressure the insurer into making payments related to the Durrani litigation. The companies accused him of abusive litigation tactics, blackmail and threats against company executives.

MedPro also maintains that it has no obligation to cover Durrani’s liabilities because the surgeon allegedly obtained insurance policies under false pretenses, engaged in conduct excluded from coverage and violated his duty to cooperate with the insurer by fleeing the country.

Deters has denied MedPro's allegations and maintained that his efforts are aimed at securing Durrani's extradition and obtaining justice for the surgeon's former patients.

In July 2026, a federal judge in Ohio denied Deters’ motions to dismiss MedPro’s lawsuit, allowing the insurer’s claims to proceed.

During his PBS interview, Deters said his primary objective remains securing Durrani’s extradition, rather than obtaining a political outcome against Guilfoyle.

“I am going to keep talking about the extradition of Dr. Durrani back to the United States until the cows come home,” he said.