Medmarc Celebrating 45 Years as Your Life Sciences Carrier

The Climate that Sparked Medmarc

This text is from the first annual report of MEDMARC LTD in 1980.

In the mid-seventies, as medical malpractice suits increased, health-related industries caught the brunt of drastic insurance company action. Medical device and diagnostic manufacturers were suddenly faced with soaring premium rates. Renewals were being offered at many multiples greater than existing rates. Further, policy conditions deteriorated. Coverage was not widely available, and the coverage that was available was scaled down. 

The worst of it was that these actions were taken against many companies that had no history of lawsuits against them. The dilemma spread across the entire industry which is comprised of many small to medium-sized manufacturers. A study undertaken by HIMA found that the products liability problem is not an isolated phenomenon, but is one extreme example of the continuing growth of third-party liability. In general, those who supply goods or services to customers are held to increasingly higher standards of responsibility. For example, in our industry, the potential liability list includes the following categories: 

Alleged Failure

1. to warn
2. to train
3. to design to the state-of-the-art
4. to utilize adequate materials
5. to assemble
6. to use correct components

The persons to whom such injury can allegedly occur are: the patient, qualified operators, sup­portive staff (maintenance, preparations), and the general public. The injuries are classified as emotional or physical, permanent or temporary. 

MEDMARC aims to cover products for these liabilities, which carry the potential of wiping out not only the bottom line but an entire business as well. 

The study also found that there was little prospect in the foreseeable future for significant legislative relief. 
The climate, then, was discouragingly grim. But innovation was on its way- thanks to prudent business managers who quickly realized that the "captive" concept had worked well for other industries for over a decade. They set out to adapt that concept to their own industry and called it MEDMARC.