Opinion ID: 3013366
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: introduction

Text: Plaintiff St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company (St. Paul) appeals an order of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, granting defendants’ Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). Defendants are Temple University Hospital, Raymond Brown, M.D., and Valerie Whitman, M.D. (Temple). The issue on appeal is whether excess and umbrella insurer St. Paul has the right, under its contracts with insured Temple, to select counsel for and to defend a medical malpractice claim, Colon, v. Temple Univ. Hosp., March Term, 2000, No. 1963 (Phila. C.P.) (Colon Action), brought against Temple by the parents of a minor child for personal injuries sustained during birth. 2 The parties do not dispute that Pennsylvania law applies in this diversity action. We conclude, however, that the District Court erred in its interpretation under Pennsylvania law of the contact between St. Paul and Temple and that it erred in its holding under the Pennsylvania Medical Professional Liability Catastrophe Loss Fund Statute (CAT Fund Statute) that only basic insurance carriers (including self-insurers) can defend medical malpractice claims. Accordingly, we will reverse the District Court’s dismissal of the complaint and remand this case to the District Court for the entry of a declaratory judgment permitting St. Paul to defend the Colon Action, including the selection of counsel.