Co-authored by Board Member and Past President Mark Komorowski, MD, and MSMS Director of Government Affairs Kate Dorsey
With the Michigan Doctors’ Political Action Committee (MDPAC) Board preparing to announce its endorsements, the 2026 Michigan Supreme Court election deserves the attention of every physician who has an interest in the future of medical liability in Michigan.
The Michigan Supreme Court is a bench of seven justices. Justices serve eight-year elected terms, with no term limits, but no person may be elected or appointed to judicial office after reaching age 70. Unseating an incumbent justice is a difficult endeavor, and the composition of the Court can have consequences for many years.
For the medical community, this is particularly important because the Court’s decisions can affect the legal environment in which physicians practice. The issues are not limited to one individual malpractice case. Decisions concerning expert testimony, statutes of limitation, damages and other elements of medical liability can establish precedents that affect physicians, hospitals and patients throughout Michigan.
The medical community has seen how changes in the law can develop over time. The effort to address escalating medical liability costs in the 1980s eventually resulted in legislation that established important safeguards concerning medical malpractice litigation. Those reforms have provided a framework for addressing legitimate claims while establishing standards intended to prevent unreliable testimony and excessive or unpredictable liability.
Recent Supreme Court decisions have brought renewed attention to those safeguards. In Danhoff v. Fahim, the Court addressed the admissibility of expert testimony and whether the absence of peer-reviewed literature, standing alone, was sufficient to exclude an expert. The decision generated concern among medical organizations about how Michigan’s existing standards for expert testimony could be applied in future cases. Other cases involving non-economic damages and the determination of earning potential for minors also have implications for the medical liability system.
The 2026 Supreme Court election therefore comes at a time when the composition of the Court is particularly significant and could be viewed as the most important one in Michigan this November.
There are two seats on the Michigan Supreme Court appearing on the November ballot. The election will determine which candidates serve the next eight-year terms and, consequently, which justices will participate in decisions involving the interpretation of Michigan law and precedent.
MDPAC is proud to announce its endorsement of the Honorable Michael Warren and the Honorable Casandra Morse-Bills. Both of these judges have strong track records of applying the law fairly and impartially for all Michiganders. MDPAC believes they will both follow long-standing precedent in the malpractice space and the current protections in place for physicians and patients will continue to have a voice.
MDPAC’s legislative candidate endorsements will be announced in next week’s Medigram.
For further information or questions, please contact MSMS Director of Government Affairs Kate Dorsey at 517-336-5737 or kdorsey@msms.org.