Physician Risk Management – February 1, 2013
February 1, 2013
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Never even saw the patient? You still might be liable, if supervising
If you never saw a patient, you can't held be liable for a bad outcome resulting from the negligence of a resident or nurse practitioner you're supervising, correct? That's a dangerous assumption, warns Lori Meyerhoffer, MD, JD, a partner with Yates, McLamb & Weyher in Raleigh, NC. -
Patient suicide? You'd likely be named in suit
If one of your patients commits suicide, you're likely to be named in any subsequent lawsuit, says Martin G. Tracy, JD, ARM, president and CEO of Professional Risk Management Services, an Arlington, VA-based firm that manages professional liability insurance programs covering psychiatrists and neurologists. -
Translation shortcuts might get you sued
The biggest liability risk physicians face when caring for limited English-proficient (LEP) patients requiring interpreters is using untrained bilingual people such as staff, family members, or friends of the patient to interpret, instead of professional interpreters, according to Lisa Diamond, MD, MPH, an assistant attending at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. -
Suspect lawsuit is coming? Know how to report it
Most medical malpractice policies have a clause that requires physicians to notify the company of all claims in a timely fashion, advises Karen Kelly, vice president of claims operations for The Doctors Co., a Napa, CA-based medical malpractice insurer. -
Patient didn't follow up? Be sure chart is clear
Was patient's lack of follow-up the real reason a bad outcome occurred? This quickly can become a "he said/she said" situation during litigation. -
Physician Legal Review & Commentary: Appeals court lowers award for pain and suffering in negligent nephrectomy case to $1 million
News: A New York State appellate court ordered a reduction of damages after an Erie County jury awarded $1.75 million in past and future pain and suffering damages against a hospital and physicians for negligence and medical malpractice in performing a nephrectomy. -
Physician Legal Review & Commentary: $1.2 million verdict to parents of a 5-year-old boy who suffered anoxic brain injury during tonsillectomy
News: A Dauphin County jury awarded the parents of a 5-year-old boy $1.2 million in damages against a physician for failing to appreciate the then 11-month-old patient's enhanced risk for respiratory failure that resulted in anoxic brain injury subsequent to the performance of a tonsillectomy.