Chipps v. Humana Health Insurance Co. of Florida was a managed care abuse lawsuit that resulted from Humana’s wrongful denial of essential physical and occupational therapy for a 6‑year‑old child with cerebral palsy. After extensive litigation and a four‑week trial that exposed systemic fraud, the jury awarded over $79 million, including the largest punitive damages ever granted to an individual in Florida up to that time. The landmark verdict not only held Humana accountable but also set an important precedent for protecting vulnerable patients from abusive managed‑care practices.
Case Background
Theodore J. Leopold was the lead trial attorney in Chipps v. Humana. He represented the family in one of the first-ever cases over managed care after Humana wrongfully denied physical and occupational therapy for their 6-year-old child with cerebral palsy.
The case involved six years of litigation and a four-week jury trial. The jury examined Humana’s internal documents and its abrupt termination of a managed care program for 100 catastrophically ill children in Florida. Humana ended the program in direct violation of its own policies and procedures. The jury awarded the Chipps family more than $1.03 million in compensatory damages and $78.5 million in punitive damages. This verdict included the largest punitive damages ever granted to an individual in Florida at that time.
The American Association for Justice lists Chipps v. Humana as one of the top “Cases That Made a Difference” for healthcare. Mr. Leopold was nominated by the Public Justice Foundation as “Trial Lawyer of the Year” for his leadership in this ground-breaking litigation against the managed care industry. The case was also featured in the National Law Journal’s Top Verdicts of the Year.