The current statutory rate is ten percent. The nature of personal injury damages makes the award of pre-judgment interest in a medical malpractice case unlikely. The Wyoming legislature has created a medical liability compensation fund to provide physicians with excess insurance coverage. In Wyoming, governmental entities and their employees, while acting within the scope of their duties, are granted immunity from liability for tort except as otherwise provided in the Act. Nonetheless, a governmental entity that is a health care provider, including a contracting physician, is liable for damages resulting from bodily injury or wrongful death caused by the negligence of its employees when acting within the scope of their duties.
Governmental entities have a duty to defend and indemnify their employees in such actions.
Any action brought against a governmental entity must be presented to the entity in writing within two years after the cause of action arose or two years from the date the cause of action was or should reasonably have been discovered. Actions against governmental entities must be commenced within one year after the claim is filed with the governmental entity, except a minor under seven years of age may bring an action within two years after the occurrence or until his eighth birthday, whichever period is longer. No judgment against a governmental entity may include an award of punitive damages, pre-judgment interest, or attorneys' fees. In 1988, the Wyoming Supreme Court held that the mandatory submission of all medical malpractice claims to a medical review panel was unconstitutional because it denied equal protection. As a result of this case, currently there is no mandatory arbitration of medical malpractice claims.