Malpractice

Doctors beware: How vague contracts put your job at risk

Physician

February 5, 2025

“Crappy doc” terminations. First, let me apologize for the use of legalese. Of late, I have been hearing concerning stories about physicians who were terminated from employment on the grounds of supposedly poor-quality care. These are not what you would call slam dunks—I’m not talking about leaving a scalpel in the patient or showing up drunk for rounds.

The stories I hear (admittedly, I’m only hearing the physician’s side) have been …

When it comes to medical malpractice lawsuits, forewarned is forearmed

Howard Smith, MD

Physician

January 30, 2025

Medical malpractice is a subject about which I am passionate. I am an obstetrician-gynecologist; I have been sued five times (one case ends in a mistrial, two in settlements of convenience, and two are dismissed with prejudice); I paid over $1 million in medical malpractice premiums over a career, and I abandoned my specialty because of threats of medical malpractice. These are reasons enough to be passionate.

There are 85,000 medical …

Medical malpractice lawsuits: the hidden cost of social bias

Howard Smith, MD

Physician

January 26, 2025

I write these words after a full week of jury deliberation in the Daniel Penny trial. I now realize that what I have been describing about medical malpractice litigation is a signal of a much more serious problem infecting the social order of the entire country. It goes far beyond 85,000 medical malpractice lawsuits filed per year and even the inability, or the unwillingness, of finders-of-fact to discriminate between a …

Gender affirming care: a matter for the Supreme Court or a matter for a medical malpractice court?

Howard Smith, MD

Physician

January 17, 2025

Of note, today, of all days, when the Supreme Court of the United States is to consider state bans on treatments for gender-affirming care of transsexual youths, virtually every internet site on the subject is blocked.

Nevertheless, I am a medical student in 1967. I do not need the internet; I lived through the beginning of gender-affirming care. My memory is clear.

I am reminded of the story of Dr. John Money, …

Peer review case: a surgeon’s fight for due process

Barney Cohen, Esq

Conditions

January 11, 2025

We recently resolved a complex peer review case involving a surgeon in a Midwestern state. The case arose as the hospital began transitioning to an employed-physician model, seeking to phase out its non-employed, voluntary medical staff. Our client, a non-employed surgeon with privileges to treat patients at the hospital, was among those targeted in what appeared to be a strategic effort to remove voluntary non-employed physicians from the …

A clarion call about medical malpractice to leaders in health care

Howard Smith, MD

Physician

January 8, 2025

There are one million physicians practicing medicine in the United States. No medical intervention they recommend is immune from a complication. The exact number of complications is unknown. Some are medical errors inherent to the intervention, while others are random errors of nature caused by external factors.

When you add to this the fact that there are more lawyers in the United States today than ever before, something has to give. …

Inside the system that’s costing health care billions every year

Howard Smith, MD

Physician

December 31, 2024

It all begins with a political movement for national health in the 1970s. There are no “health systems,” just doctors and hospitals. Fee-for-service is determined by conventional principles of cost accounting, in which payment for services compensates for overhead and leaves enough profit to remain in practice and enjoy the American dream.

There are health insurance companies. The purpose of health insurance is to protect patients against medical expenses, not to …

Howard Smith, MD

Physician

November 5, 2024

As shown in my earlier post, when prosecuting Byrom vs. Johns Hopkins Bayview Hospital with inductive reasoning, as is traditional, the medical intervention is compared to the standard of care in a very general and subjective way. The medical intervention “more likely than not” departs from the standard of care. “More likely than not” corresponds to a level of confidence of around 51 percent and a type-1 error of …

When medical malpractice is not medical malpractice

Howard Smith, MD

Physician

November 1, 2024

In medical malpractice, inductive reasoning regards the standard of care as the duty to do no harm. If there is a complication from a medical intervention and the medical intervention differs from the standard of care in any conceivable way, the difference alone is sufficient to conclude that the medical intervention departs from that duty.

However, unanticipated threats require nimbleness. This is a calculated risk. It causes a difference, but it …

How flawed legal reasoning can tilt medical malpractice cases

Howard Smith, MD

Physician

October 24, 2024

A quote by Sir Winston Churchill: “However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.”

Actually, Churchill never said this. It may have been Ian Gilmour, a member of Margaret Thatcher’s Cabinet, years after Churchill’s death. Nevertheless, this quote is often cited in the context of risk management. It is as relevant in a medical malpractice lawsuit as it is a warning to malpractice attorneys. No matter how elegant …

Inside the courtroom: a doctor’s battle against a fraud investigation [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

October 20, 2024

Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes!

We sit down with Muhamad Aly Rifai, a practicing internist and psychiatrist, to explore the complexities of health care fraud investigations and the profound impact these cases have on physicians’ lives and careers. …

Sham peer review (SPR): strategies for saving your career and soul

Tracey O'Connell, MD

Physician

October 13, 2024

For an introduction to SPR, click here. For a history of SPR, click here. To learn how to distinguish real vs. sham peer review, click here.

We don’t hear about SPR as often as it occurs because those who have experienced it have likely signed nondisclosure agreements or self-isolated in shame after …

Nurse practitioner hit with $1.4m verdict: the hidden truth behind the lawsuit

Howard Smith, MD

Physician

October 13, 2024

In the August 2023 issue of MD Linx, Stephanie Srakocic writes about a Philadelphia jury that awards a $1.4 million verdict against a nurse practitioner for failing to treat hyperthyroidism. The patient, who is hyperthyroid, is admitted to the hospital for acute abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting. The patient subsequently dies. The implication is that the patient is under the care of a nurse practitioner, and there is no …

Medical malpractice: Are you at risk? Discover the startling facts.

Jorge Sanchez, MD and Menahil Shahid

Physician

September 24, 2024

Medical providers play a crucial role in your health and well-being, so expecting them to perform their duties with care and competence is natural. However, if they fall short and make errors, you can file a medical malpractice claim to seek accountability for any harm they cause.

Medical malpractice occurs when a health care professional provides care that falls below the accepted standard expected in their field.

When studying medical malpractice, it …

Refuting the notion by a plaintiff attorney that there are no frivolous medical malpractice lawsuits

Howard Smith, MD

Physician

September 22, 2024

James Haliczer, an erstwhile defense attorney turned plaintiff attorney, audaciously claims in a YouTube video that “there is no such thing as a frivolous lawsuit.”

There are ten species of stakeholders in medical malpractice litigation: claimants, plaintiff attorneys, defendants, defense attorneys, medical experts, medical expert directories, mentors, malpractice insurance carriers, and jurors. They are part of the medical liability litigation industry.

With the exception of defendants and jurors, each prospers from $55.6 …