Workers’ Comp Insurer Approved to File Claim Against Settlement

A workers’ compensation insurer can try to recover medical expenses it paid on behalf of a woman who later sued her health-care providers because the medical malpractice suit was settled before trial, Nevada’s top court said.

A Nevada law prohibits third-party payers from seeking reimbursement out of personal injury or wrongful death damages awarded in a suit against the person whose negligence allegedly caused the injury, the Nevada Supreme Court said.

But the law specifically applies only when evidence of the third-party payments has been presented to the factfinder in a negligence case, the court said. That only happens when ...