In Philadelphia, a family alleged that a birth injury had led to their baby’s cerebral palsy. They sued Penn Medicine and were awarded $183 million. In Boise, a jury recently awarded the state’s second-highest-ever award, $13.5 million, in …
Category: Malpractice
Medical errors and the power of apologies [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes! In this episode, we talk to Amber Gipson-Fine, a project manager, about her personal experience with a medical error and the importance of medical apologies. March was Endometriosis Awarene…
Proactive risk management: a game-changer in preventing physician burnout
Readers familiar with my earlier posts understand that I believe nothing causes physician burnout more than the threat of a lawsuit. The risk for any doctor is 5% per year; hence, a malpractice suit is inevitable for every 20 years in practice. The com…
Doctors: We must fight against frivolous lawsuits
Lawyers assert that they never file a frivolous lawsuit. All malpractice claims are legitimate because there is a reasonable suspicion of fault when a case is filed. On January 21, 2022, at 11:40 a.m., I received a call from my attorney, who represente…
Don’t be caught off guard: Read your malpractice policy today
We must confess: We both have Apple iPhones and have never read Apple’s user or licensing agreements. Have you? We assume that most of you have not read Apple’s agreements. And like most of you, we ain’t got time for that. We “a…
From tragedy to advocacy: a journey through medical errors [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes! In this episode, Alisa Sano, a public health research assistant, shares her personal story of loss and the impact of medical errors on families. We will explore the complexities of the heal…
The curious cases of the Tenerife plane crash and medical errors: What we see through the Swiss cheese model
“Even a room with flammable gas will not explode unless someone strikes a match.” – Dr. Bob Wachter Case 1: On March 27, 1977, two 747s collided on the runway at Tenerife in the Canary Islands, killing 583 people. On a foggy morning, the KL…
Don’t hold your breath: Non-competes are unlikely to disappear for physicians
Physician non-compete clauses have been a controversial topic for many years. These clauses within contractual agreements prevent physicians from joining or operating a competing practice within a certain distance or timeframe. With the Federal Trade C…
A tale of medical malpractice, the legal system, and a fight for justice
I have been fortunate in my forty-five-year medical career never to have been sued for the care I delivered to a patient. I attribute this, in part, to being a family physician and having ongoing relationships with my patients and, in part, to being wi…
Navigating the emotional impact of a medical malpractice lawsuit [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes! In this episode, we explore the emotional impact of medical malpractice lawsuits on physicians and how they can navigate the process. Attorney Christine Zharova shares her insights on how t…
