JOHN SHUFELDT, MD, JD, MBA, FACEP The possibility of being sued for medical malpractice, while not a pleasant prospect, is not something that should be causing you sleepless nights. Much like flood insurance, malpractice insurance exists for times when an unexpected event occurs and may require some payment for damages. Your goal should simply be to have adequate coverage for those times. And, let’s face it, there may be such times. Good providers do get …
Read MoreA Short Course in Tort
John Shufeldt, MD, JD, MBA, FACEP I just completed teaching a semester of Health Law and Ethics at the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. Over the next few months in this column, my goal is to distill te 40-hour course down to a few pages chock full of practical legal information. Lesson 1: Torts A tort is a civil wrong committed against a person or property interest for which the court …
Read MoreOverview of a Malpractice Trial (and How to Survive)
JOHN SHUFELDT, MD, JD, MBA, FACEP It’s game day. The trial begins today and your fate will be decided by a jury of your “peers.” Never mind the fact that none of them are physicians, only three have been to college, and two did not even graduate from high school; in the eyes of the law, they are your peers and will be the ones to decide if your care met the standard of care. …
Read MoreWhat to Do When You Get Named in a Malpractice Suit
JOHN SHUFELDT, MD, JD, MBA, FACEP Your front office receptionist informs you that there is a man at the door who says he is a process server, and that he wants you to sign for a registered letter. Your first thought, of course, is to run out the back door of your office or to simply feign a stroke. Instead, common sense prevails and you sign for the letter informing you that you are a …
Read MoreProtecting Yourself Against Medical Malpractice Claims
We live and practice medicine in a litigious society. How, then, can providers protect themselves against the threat of financial ruin due to malpractice payouts? The first and most obvious answer is to not commit malpractice; more about that in a moment. The next most likely answer is for providers to purchase malpractice insurance with limits set high enough to protect their personal assets. The median medical malpractice award tripled between 1997 and 2004. By …
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