"The way they have communicated with us so far has been fairly reasonable. That's not to say they've reached for their checkbook, but they have essentially acknowledged liability and that they were supposed to provide him with defense," said Ichter, who filed the complaint with Cumming, Georgia, solo James Hawkins.

Icher said the blemish on his professional record has made it difficult for Perera to find work.

"With the COVID outbreak going on and a lot of patients not going to hospitals, he found himself without a job. Now he has to go out in the world with this on his record," he said.

"The world is not waiting with open arms," Ichter said.

A copy of the complaint was forwarded to MagMutual's chief legal officer, Michael Markett, who did not respond to queries on Thursday.

As detailed in the complaint, Perera, who specializes in vascular and general surgery, was employed by the University Medical Group in Augusta and was a MagMutual policyholder in 2018.

In February of that year, he performed an arterial surgery on a woman who subsequently died from complications of the procedure.

The patient's husband, Charles Bowen, consulted an attorney who sent a presuit copy of a medical malpractice complaint he was preparing to file against Perrera to University Medical Group, which "promptly sent the complaint to MagMutual."

"Instead of assigning defense counsel to Dr. Perera as it was obligated to do" under the terms of is policy, "MagMutual assigned Benjamin S. Torres, a MagMutual Claims Resolution Facilitator, to resolve the claims against Dr. Perera. MagMutual specifically tasked Mr. Torres with settling early so as to avoid the costs of defense counsel, even at the expense of MagMutual's express obligation to provide a Strong Defense to Dr. Perera," the doctor's complaint said.

In December 2018, Bowen sued Perera and his practice, University Vascular Specialist Inc., in Richmond County Superior Court.

"Even after formal service, MagMutual chose not to assign defense counsel to Dr. Perera and, instead, directed Mr. Torres to seek an early resolution of the dispute before MagMutual incurred the costs of defense counsel," the complaint said.

Perera said he had no interest in settling "because he believed had done everything and more to save the patient and had at all times complied with or exceeded the standard of care." Torres emailed his manager that there was "no possibility of an early resolution at this point given the insured's strong defensive position and plaintiff's counsel's move to file suit."

Torres repeatedly pressed Perera to enter into an early mediation, which Perera refused; on the day his answer to the complaint was due, the adjuster nonetheless sent the doctor, saying he "wanted to confirm our agreement to Mediate before continuing with the litigation."

The same day, Torres sent his manager a message saying Perera had agreed to an early mediation.

"That was not true," the complaint said. "Dr. Perera had not agreed to an early mediation."

In addition to believing himself blameless, Perera was also scheduled to be in court in South Carolina during the proposed time period for any such mediation.

Perera went into default Jan. 9, 2019; the next day, Torres and Bowen's lawyer entered a stipulation with the court agreeing to extend the doctor's time to respond and stating that Perera had agreed to mediate the dispute in early February.

"Dr. Perera never made such a commitment, and Mr. Torres was never authorized by Dr. Perera to make such a commitment," the compainit said.

Two weeks later, MagMutual assigned Perera defense counsel, "several days after the expiration of the time for Dr. Perera to open his default as a matter of right and several days after the time for Dr. Perera to respond to Plaintiff's Request for Admissions."

Perera's lawyer filed a motion to open default, but Superior Court Judge John Flythe refused to do so "because Dr. Perera had not authorized the agreement to mediate as set forth in the Stipulation, and because MagMutual, acting on behalf of Dr. Perera, repudiated the Stipulation before the mediation," the complaint said.

"Because Dr. Perera was in default and because he failed to timely respond to the Plaintiff's Request for Admissions, he was deemed liable for his patient's death and resulting damages," it said. "The only issue remaining for trial, therefore, was the amount of plaintiff's damages."

The case settled confidentially on April 15, 2019.

Perera's complaint includes claims for breach of contract, breach of fiduciary, bad faith refusal to provide a defense, negligence and gross negligence.

The complaint does not specify what it seeks in damages, and Ichter declined to name any dollar amount.

"To be perfectly honest, Dr. Perera just wants to get on with his life," he said. "When you're a specialized surgeon and you think about how much time and effort it takes to achieve that status, it's hard to put a figure on that. All of which is just to say it's a significant situation."