<i>Premiums and judgments are way more connected than you are implying.</i><p>There is a <i>belief</i> on the part of many people that massive, bank-breaking, out-of-control, $BIGNUM malpractice judgments are common and that this is the reason why premiums have skyrocketed.<p>This belief is not borne out by the facts, which are that malpractice awards increase, on average, about 3% more than inflation, and that even in states with &quot;here&#x27;s a nickel, sorry we killed your spouse&quot;-type caps on judgments the premiums have continued to rise far out of proportion to the amounts of the judgments.