2021 is the year economies and industries continue to come to terms with the repercussions of  COVID-19. While the insurance sector as a whole will need to address the Supreme Court ruling on business interruption claims arising from the pandemic, those dealing with medical malpractice and the  life sciences sectors will very likely have various indirect consequences from the pandemic impacting on claims. The allocation of resources across the health sector could form the basis of future litigation around delays in treatment as could the increased use of tele medicine and AI to respond to the pandemic. These issues and others such as virtual court hearings and a renewed focus on patient safety are considered in this year's Forward View. 

Understanding the potential risks will allow health providers and their indemnifiers to hopefully avoid litigation as we eventually enter a new post pandemic world which will, whether it is better or worse in different ways, certainly be very different to life as we knew it.

Find all the articles our Medical Malpractice Forward View for 2021 listed below.

Articles in this edition:

• Spotlight on two pending court decisions
• Decision in Maughan may lead not only to an increase in requests for an unlawful killing conclusion at inquest, but have wider consequences
• Resource issues are likely to have a significant role in determining the standard of care in claims arising during the pandemic
• Remote hearings and medical examinations are likely to continue for the foreseeable future
• Safety and learning will remain front and centre in healthcare
• The roll-out of digital healthcare is likely to continue apace
• Artificial Intelligence is likely to assist in the post-Covid recovery of healthcare services, but could be a ‘disrupter’ in healthcare law
• Research and development in life sciences will assume even greater importance as will information governance around the use of apps

Get in touch 

Capsticks advise and support medical malpractice insurers and healthcare providers on all aspect of medical law including claims, inquests and regulatory proceedings. 

To discuss how any of these issues may affect your organisation, please get in touch with Majid Hassan, Anna Walsh, or Philip Hatherall.