Judge Sets Aside Palm Medical Verdict

A San Francisco judge has set aside a jury's $1.1 million judgment against State Compensation Insurance Fund in a dispute with Palm Medical Group in Fresno, State Fund announced Wednesday. In an order signed April 28, Superior Court Judge Donald S. Mitchell set aside the jury's finding that State Fund had violated the doctrine of fair procedure when it excluded Palm Medical from its preferred provider network. In short, the common-law principle requires large corporations and other entities with economic power to use procedures that are substantially fair when making decisions that affect pe...