Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Getting Served: The Do’s and Don’ts of Litigation

Upon returning home from a busy urgent care shift, you notice a certified letter with a law firm’s return address. You open the letter and realize you are being sued in the case of a 26-year-old woman you saw almost a year ago. As your heart beats harder, you think about returning to the urgent care to pull up the chart. You wonder who you should call (the medical director, the insurance company…?) Should you …

A Better Way to Settle Malpractice Suits?

Urgent message: Mediation could produce better outcomes than litigation for patients and physicians—if doctors would only show up. CAROL B. LIEBMAN, JD Introduction A stomach pain is misdiagnosed as viral gastroenteritis. The patient ends up in the hospital for six days with complications from a ruptured appendix. A physician prescribes penicillin to a woman with clearly documented allergies, which leads to anaphylaxis and a day in the ICU. A severe headache is labeled a migraine; …