Medical Professional Liability State Profile:
Vermont
CME Requirements
Credit Amount
Vermont requires MDs and DOs to complete 30 CME training hours per licensure cycle.
Licensure Cycle
Biennial.
Topics
- For MDs, Vermont requires 1 CME hour on any of the following topics: hospice, palliative care, end-of-life care or pain management. MDs who currently have or who have applied for United States Drug Enforcement Association registration are required to complete 2 hours of prescribing of controlled substances education.
- For DOs, at least 40% of CME hours must be osteopathic medical education.
CME requirements listed above were updated based on information from the Vermont Board of Medical Practice, but education requirements do change. Due to COVID-19, certain states may have modified their licensure requirements. Physicians are advised to confirm Vermont’s current MD requirements with the Vermont Board of Medical Practice website and DO requirements with the Vermont Office of Professional Regulation (OPR) website.
- Prejudgment and Post-Judgment Interest
- One-party or two-party state
- Tort Laws
- Abortion Law
Prejudgment and Post-Judgment Interest
Prejudgment Tort Actions Rate: Contract rate or, if none, 12%. Interest is discretionary unless damages are liquidated or capable of ready ascertainment
- R.C.P. Rule 54(a)
- 9 V.S.A. § 41a(a)
- Greenmoss Builders v. King, 580 A.2d 971 (Vt. 1990)
- Newport Sand &Gravel Co. v. Miller Concrete Constr., Inc., 614 A.2d 395 (Vt. 1992); see Fleming v. Nicholson, 724 A.2d 1026 (Vt. 1998)
Prejudgment Accrual Date: Date action accrues.
- Pinewood Manor v. Vermont Agency of Transp., 668 A.2d 653 (Vt. 1995)
Post-Judgment Tort Actions Rate: 12%
- §12 V.S.A. § 2903(c).
Post-Judgment Accrual Date: Date of judgment
- Pinewood Manor v. Vermont Agency of Transp., 668 A.2d 653 (Vt. 1995)
One-party or two-party state
Vermont is a one-party state.
Vermont law does not contain any provisions regarding the legality of recording or sharing any kind of audio-based conversations. This means that Vermont is considered a one-party consent state. However, the state Supreme Court has determined that it is a criminal offense to covertly and electronically monitor communications occurring in a person’s home. Vermont v. Geraw, 795 A.2d 1219 (Vermont 2002) A state high court upheld that an individual should not be under the expectation of privacy in a hospital’s emergency treatment section as any number of different people are frequently coming and going. Vermont v. Rheaume, 889 A.2d 711 (Vermont 2005) It is also considered lawful to record a conversation taking place in a parking lot for the same reason. Vermont v. Brooks, 601 A.2d 963 (Vermont 1991)
Tort Laws
Limits on damages for pain and suffering: None
Limits on contingent attorney fees: None
Reform of collateral source rule: None
Periodic payment of future damages: None
- 12 V.S.A. § 521
Abortion Law
Now that the Supreme Court has overturned Roe:
Abortion will remain legal in Vermont. In 2019, Vermont enacted comprehensive abortion rights legislation. In November 2022, voters approved Proposal 5, which enshrines reproductive freedom in the Vermont constitution.