Three West Virginia surgeons who went on strike January 1 in protest of the high cost of malpractice insurance returned to work Friday, calming fears that the walkout would last months. Since the beginning of the year, two dozen physicians have been on leaves of absence at four state hospitals to protest the current malpractice insurance crisis. Physicians in the state allege multimillion-dollar medical malpractice verdicts have caused insurance premiums to soar, leading many doctors to leave the area or discontinue their practice. Consumer interest groups and most personal injury attorneys, however, argue that insurance companies have raised premiums to cover their losses caused by bad investments over the last few years.

On Wednesday, West Virginia Governor Bob Wise proposed several malpractice reforms, including putting a cap on damage awards and extending state-provided malpractice coverage to doctors using $20 million from the state tobacco settlement fund. Lawmakers are reviewing the proposed changes and will decide whether to pass the bill in the coming weeks.