A good friend asked me for some advice this week.  He was thinking about adding a medical malpractice claim to a personal injury survival and wrongful death claim.  His client survived for months in pain until dying as a result of the initial injuries. Arguably, the hospital didn’t provide the best treatment, and he was considering adding a med mal claim.

This situation arises not just in adding med mal claims, but also arises when the defense alleges affirmative defenses.  As plaintiff’s counsel, we are sometimes tempted to add 3rd party defendants based on affirmative defenses.

My practice has always been to limit the case to one defendant if at all possible.  The jury gets confused with multiple defendants. Also, we’ve all experienced times when the last defendant on the hook pays more to settle, simply because they’re the last defendant standing and the focus is now on them at trial.

In considering adding a med mal claim, I advised my friend not to turn an 8 figure claim into a $500,000 capped case.

In conclusion, if the defense feels that someone else is at fault, let them prove it.