Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes! Physician executive Timothy McDonald discusses his article, “How innovative partnerships are transforming patient safety in health care,” highlighting the role…
Category: Malpractice
The cost-driver in every medical malpractice lawsuit
“Whatever is measured is managed” is the fundamental principle in management science. Nowhere is this better exemplified than in a small, obscure reciprocal insurance company in Washington, D.C., once the provider of choice for two-thirds o…
The cost-driver in every medical malpractice lawsuit
“Whatever is measured is managed” is the fundamental principle in management science. Nowhere is this better exemplified than in a small, obscure reciprocal insurance company in Washington, D.C., once the provider of choice for two-thirds o…
My personal experience in medical malpractice litigation
In 2004, the AMA declared a “medical malpractice crisis.” At that time, 34 percent of all physicians in the United States had been sued. The practice of medicine was at risk. Hospitals were closing. Coverage for certain high-risk specialtie…
Are you protecting your career? 5 essential questions about your NP liability insurance
A nurse practitioner (NP) in urgent care saw a patient with a severe headache following a fall. Initial testing and symptoms suggested a concussion, leading to discharge. However, when the patient’s worsening condition later revealed an elevated …
How legal exploitation shaped the U.S. medical malpractice system
Random mal-occurrences have always accompanied medical interventions, even under the best of circumstances. These are errors of nature. In the 1960s, some attorneys in California were the first to exploit these unfortunate random outcomes to their adva…
Doctors beware: How vague contracts put your job at risk
“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 w…
When it comes to medical malpractice lawsuits, forewarned is forearmed
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 …
Medical malpractice lawsuits: the hidden cost of social bias
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 entir…
Gender affirming care: a matter for the Supreme Court or a matter for a medical malpractice court?
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 stud…
