LINCOLN (AP) — State officials are worried that a medical malpractice insurance company might try to get out of paying claims that could arise from a massive hepatitis C outbreak in Fremont.
The Department of Insurance has asked a judge to rule that Medical Protective Co. of Fort Wayne, Ind., must defend Dr. Tahir Javed in scores of lawsuits that have been filed against him.
The Fremont outbreak was the largest of its kind in the nation, and perhaps the world, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Javed is accused of using unsanitary practices that caused 99 people — including one who died — to contract the disease at his Fremont Cancer Clinic between March 2000 and December 2001.
To date, 81 lawsuits have been filed against him.
In documents filed in Lancaster County District Court, the department says Javed's malpractice insurance policy set limits of $200,000 per claim and annual aggregate of $600,000.
The state is worried that the insurance company will settle only a few of the lawsuits to meet the $600,000 limit and leave the state's malpractice fund liable for the rest — which could total millions of dollars.
The state contends that all the hepatitis cases must be defended collectively by the insurance company.
If that's the case, the state contends that Javed's policy contained a provision that would increase the total amount the insurance company must pay collectively to $7 million.
Company officials declined to immediately comment.
The Javed lawsuits are threatening to wipe out Nebraska's malpractice fund.
Nebraska's Excess Liability Fund was established in 1976 and is used to pay claims in excess of a doctor's individual private malpractice insurance. Participating doctors pay annually into the fund, which is meant to defray the costs of malpractice insurance.
About 3,100 doctors pay into the fund.
The fund now has $55 million, but is expected to pay out an estimated $46 million to settle pending claims — not including any of those filed against Javed.
Tim Wagner, head of the state Department of Insurance, has said that if the Javed case exhausts the fund, the doctors would be required to pay the remaining claims — which potentially could equal tens of millions of dollars.
Things could be worse, if Nebraska did not have a cap on medical malpractice claims. The Legislature passed a bill last session increasing the damage cap from $1.25 million to $1.75 million.
Earlier this month, the state revoked Javed's medical license.
In a settlement reached with the state, Javed admitted to using unsanitary practices at his clinic.
Javed left the country for his native Pakistan a year ago, around the time when the first hepatitis cases were detected.
Hepatitis C is a viral infection of the liver and the most common bloodborne infection in the nation. The virus causes no symptoms in most cases and the majority of carriers do not know they are infected.
The virus affects the liver and can eventually lead to cirrhosis or liver cancer.
It can take as long as 20 years for hepatitis C to cause liver failure, and those infected rarely show symptoms.
The outbreak involves genotype 3A, a strain that accounts for fewer than 10 percent of all U.S. viral hepatitis C cases.
On the Net
Nebraska Department of Insurance: http://www.nol.org/home/NDOI/
The Medical Protective Company: http://www.gemedicalprotective.com
National Centers for Disease Control: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases
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