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Complete Bio
Resume/CV
Malpractice
History
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It is my belief that malpractice history information should be available to patients who are evaluating a physician. However, it is very important for patients to understand the nature of malpractice actions and what relationship they have to assessing the quality of a physician. I'm fortunate to have a wide circle of friends among the top doctors in the country. Among this elite group, the vast majority of malpractice claims have arisen because of personality conflicts between the doctor and patient or family, or bad outcomes despite properly conducted surgery and treatment. The term “malpractice insurance” should be thought of more as “insurance against bad outcomes.” Jury trials sometime result in a finding for a patient who had a bad outcome despite good treatment. This is more a reflection on the generous nature of Americans than an indication of bad conduct by a doctor.
Any patient may file a malpractice claim against a doctor. Lawyers generally only accept the case when it looks like there is a high probability of a guilty verdict or a settlement by the physician in order to avoid the costs and disruption of a lengthy discovery and trial process. It costs a minimum of $20,000 to defend against a malpractice claim, even one that is totally frivolous. Some insurance companies will settle malpractice claims for small amounts in order to avoid a trial, even when there is no evidence of malpractice by the physician.
Approximately 10 years ago the United States established the National Practitioner Data Bank. This database records all cases where a payment was made as the result of a malpractice claim. There is no entry if the doctor was found not guilty, if the claim was dropped, or if it was dismissed by the courts. Any money paid to settle a claim or as a result of a jury award will be assigned to the parties named in the suits. One or more doctors may be listed in the database as part of the suit, even if none of the award money was assigned to their responsibility.
As of 2002, I have one NPDB entry. The 1985 incident involved a surgical complication during a highly complex surgery performed by one of the attending surgeons while I was a junior resident. The patient's femur was perforated during surgery and ultimately fractured some weeks later through that perforation. Although I was not involved in the surgery, I was asked to help obtain x-rays of the fracture area because of the pain and concern on the part of the patient. When the x-ray technician and I gently lifted the patient to place the x-ray plate beneath his broken leg, the patient saw it deform for the first time. He became convinced that the x-ray technician and I had broken his leg. Nothing could dissuade him from this belief. After nine years, the hospital where I trained finally settled the case to halt the ongoing legal defense costs. None of the money paid in settlement was assigned to me as my responsibility. The actually entry can be viewed here:
National Practictioner Data Bank
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