Title 27, Title 27

Panelists and witnesses are absolutely immune from civil liability for all communications, findings, opinions, and conclusions made in the course and scope of the duties prescribed by this chapter.

The director of the panel shall be appointed by the executive director of the Montana medical association, subject to the approval of the chief justice of the Montana supreme court. The director shall serve at the pleasure of, and the director's salary shall be set by, the execut…

(1) The director, subject to the approval of the chief justice, may employ and fix the compensation for clerical and other assistants that the director considers necessary. (2) The panel shall maintain adequate offices, in which its records must be kept and its official business …

(1) All members of the panel must be paid a salary in the amount of $40 an hour, under guidelines promulgated by the Montana supreme court. (2) All members of the panel, the director, and the director's staff are entitled to travel expenses incurred while on the business of the p…

The director, in consultation with the state bar of Montana and subject to approval of the supreme court, is authorized to adopt and publish rules of procedure necessary to implement and carry out the duties of the medical review panel. No rules may be adopted, however, which req…

The panel may provide for the administration of oaths, the receipt of claims filed, the promulgation of forms required by this chapter, the issuance of subpoenas in connection with the administration of this chapter, and the performance of all other acts required to fairly and ef…

(1) There is a pretrial review fund to be administered by the director exclusively for the purposes stated in this chapter. The fund and any income from it must be held in trust, deposited in an account, and invested and reinvested by the director with the prior approval of the d…

(1) The panel may be audited by or at the direction of the legislative auditor in accordance with the powers and duties set forth in 5-13-304 and 5-13-309. Any audit that is conducted by the legislative auditor under 5-13-411 must include a determination of the adequacy, sufficie…

Claimants shall submit a case for the consideration of the panel prior to filing a complaint in any district court or other court sitting in Montana by addressing an application, in writing, signed by the claimant or the claimant's attorney, to the director of the panel.

The application must contain the following: (1) a statement in reasonable detail of the elements of the health care provider's conduct that are believed to constitute a malpractice claim, the dates on which the conduct occurred, and the names and addresses of all physicians, dent…

Amendments to the application may be authorized by rule.

In instances where applications are received employing a theory of respondeat superior or some other derivative theory of recovery, the director shall forward the application to the state professional societies, associations, or licensing boards of both the individual health care…

Upon receipt of an application for review, the director or the director's delegate shall cause to be served a true copy of the application on the health care providers involved. Service must be effected by mailing a certified copy of the application to the health care provider at…

(1) If a health care provider involved chooses to retain legal counsel, the health care provider's attorney shall informally enter the health care provider's appearance with the director. (2) The health care provider shall answer the application for review and shall submit a stat…

The panel director shall cooperate fully with the claimant in retaining, to consult with the claimant, upon payment of a reasonable fee by the claimant, in claims involving: (1) a physician, a physician qualified in the field of medicine involved; or (2) a dentist, a dentist qual…

At least 10 days prior to the hearing, the director shall furnish to each panel member copies of all claims, briefs, medical, podiatric, or dental records, and other documents that the director considers necessary.

(1) Those eligible to sit on the panel are health care providers licensed pursuant to Montana law and residing in Montana and the members of the state bar of Montana. Six panel members shall sit in review of each case. Three panel members who are physicians and three panel member…

(1) Application for review shall be promptly transmitted by the director to the directors of the health care provider's state professional society or association and the state bar, which shall, within 14 days from the date of transmittal of the application, each select 12 propose…

Whenever there are multiple defendants, the case against each health care provider may be reviewed by a separate panel or, at the discretion of the panel initially appointed or by stipulation of the parties, a single combined panel may review all the claims against all parties de…

(1) A member must be disqualified from consideration of a case in which, by virtue of the member's circumstances, the member believes that serving on the panel would be inappropriate, considering the purpose of the panel. The director may excuse a proposed panelist from serving. …

(1) A date, time, and place for hearing shall be fixed by the director subject to subsection (2), and prompt notice thereof shall be given to the parties involved, the attorneys, and the members of the panel. In no instance may the date set be more than 120 days after the transmi…

(1) At the time set for hearing, the claimant submitting the case for review must be present and shall make a brief introduction of the case, including a resume of the facts constituting the alleged professional malpractice that the claimant is prepared to prove. The health care …

(1) At the conclusion of the hearing, the panel may take the case under advisement or may request that additional facts, records, witnesses, or other information be obtained and presented to it at a supplemental hearing, which must be set for a date and time certain, not longer t…

At or prior to the time set for the hearing, the attorney members of the panel shall select a presiding officer who must be an attorney and who shall preside over the panel deliberations.

Upon consideration of all the relevant material, the panel shall decide whether there is: (1) substantial evidence that the acts complained of occurred and that they constitute malpractice; and (2) a reasonable medical probability that the patient was injured thereby.

The deliberations of the panel are confidential. All votes of the panel on the questions for discussion shall be by secret ballot. The decision shall be by a majority vote of those voting members of the panel who sat on the entire case.

The decision must in every case be signed for the panel by the presiding officer, must contain only the conclusions reached by a majority of its members, and must list the number of members, if any, dissenting from the opinion. Upon request of any party, the majority shall briefl…

The decision must be communicated in writing to the parties and attorneys concerned, and a copy must be retained in the permanent files of the panel.

(1) The panel's decision is without administrative or judicial authority and is not binding upon any party. (2) The panel may recommend an award, approve settlement agreements, and discuss the settlement agreements, all in a manner consistent with this part. All approved settleme…

No malpractice claim may be filed in any court against a health care provider before an application is made to the panel and its decision is rendered.

The running of the applicable limitation period related to a malpractice claim is tolled upon receipt by the director of the application for review as to all health care providers named in the application as parties to the panel proceeding and as to all other persons or entities …

The director shall maintain records of all proceedings before the panel, which must include the nature of the act or omissions complained of, a brief summary of the evidence expressed, the decision of the panel, and any majority or dissenting opinions filed. Any records which may…

(1) A panel member may not be called to testify in a proceeding concerning the deliberations, discussions, decisions, and internal proceedings of the panel. (2) The decision and the reasoning and basis for the decision of the panel are not admissible as evidence in an action subs…