Opinion ID: 2433995
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Improper references to insurance

Text: Dr. Kelley contends two medical expert witnesses were asked questions which implied that he was insured against medical malpractice claims. His contention is that these improper questions were asked in a trial which was permeated with references to insurance due to the fact that it was a direct action against two insurance companies. He argues that the appellees' counsel intentionally mentioned insurance numerous times to inflame the jury into awarding large amounts of damages. The appellants seem to recognize there was no way that references to insurance could have been kept out of the trial in view of the fact that the action was against two insurers. Thus, they have focused on the questions they argued implied insurance coverage of Dr. Kelley. The first question noted was asked of Dr. Whaley who was called as a witness for Dr. Kelley. He was asked and answered as follows: Question: Doctor do you know this lawsuit is against St. Paul Insurance Company? Answer: I have heard you say that. Question: Is that the biggest malpractice insurance carrier in Arkansas? Upon objection by Dr. Kelley's attorney, a conference out of the jury's presence was held, and, in effect, the objection to the question was sustained. Upon returning to open court, the question was withdrawn. The judge asked the jurors if they could ignore the question, and they indicated they could. The second specific instance of which Dr. Kelley complains occurred when counsel for the appellees cross-examined a Dr. Ransom about his malpractice insurance. He was asked whether he had insurance coverage with St. Paul. He said he did not know. He was then asked if his insurance premium would increase if a large judgment were awarded against a doctor. He said he did not know. Dr. Kelley cites Shamblin v. Albright, 278 Ark. 565, 647 S.W.2d 470 (1983), and Hively v. Edwards, 278 Ark. 435, 646 S.W.2d 688 (1983), in each of which we held the trial court did not abuse its discretion by precluding questions which would have alerted the jury that a defendant physician was covered by malpractice insurance. A reading of those cases makes it clear that we have no absolute prohibition against allowing the mention of insurance in malpractice actions. In both instances the trial court excluded the evidence, and we held the appellants had not shown that the probative value of the showing of insurance coverage outweighed the prejudicial effect of that evidence. Here the trial judge, in effect, sustained the objection to the question to Dr. Whaley and overruled it on the question to Dr. Ransom. We find no abuse of discretion. As Dr. Kelley notes in his brief, this trial was already permeated with the presence of two insurer defendants. The question to Dr. Whaley was disallowed. While it is true that Dr. Ransom was primarily a witness for Dr. Kelley, he also testified that the hospital actions were appropriate. Thus he was testifying in favor of St. Paul. Whether he was insured by St. Paul thus was to some degree relevant to impeachment of his testimony. The trial judge might have sustained the objection to the question on the basis that the effect of one judgment on the company's rates was too remote and thus its prejudicial effect outweighed its probative value, see Mendoza v. Varon, 563 S.W.2d 646 (Tex.Civ.App. 1978), but he did not. We find no abuse in these circumstances.