This Makes Me Sick : Flea Gets Sued

June 02, 2006

Flea Gets Sued

We welcome back Flea--a pediatrician in the northeast—who offers the first installment on his vivid experience being sued for malpractice. You can check out Flea's blog, here.

It occurs to me that many of you have never seen a Plaintiff's Complaint. This document alerts the physician that he is being sued for malpractice. What follows are excerpts from a complaint that I received at 8:45 one morning in September 2002, 2 months after opening my new practice.

"Count I.

...5 On or about X-date, the decedent's mother submitted herself to the care and treatment of the defendant, Dr. Flea, who negligently and carelessly and without regard for the health and well-being of the plaintiff's decedent and his mother, treated the plaintiff's decedent and his mother in a manner which resulted in XY's death on XY-date.

6. The death of XY and the damage to his estate, including, but not limited to his funeral and burial expenses, are the direct and proximate result of the carelessness, unskillfulness, negligence and improper care and treatment by the defendant, Dr. Flea, including but not limited to the following:

a. his misrepresentations to the plaintiff's decedent's mother that he was knowledgeable, skillful and competent to diagnose and treat the plaintiff's decedent and his mother on or about X-date;

b. his failure to adequately and properly diagnose the medical condition of the plaintiff's decedent and his mother on or about X-date, and his failure to properly treat said condition;

c. his failure to recognize, or to have the knowledge to recognize his inability and lack of skill to treat the plaintiff's decedent and his mother, when he knew or should have known of the foreseeable consequences of his inability and failure to properly and skillfully provide the plaintiff's decedent and his mother with acceptable medical care and treatment;

d. his failure to possess and exercise that degree of skill, training and care as is possessed and exercised by the average qualified members of the medical profession practicing his specialty.

e. his failure to inform and to warn of the risks involved in or associated with the plaintiff's decedent's condition and that of his mother and failure to inform and to warn about the treatment of said condition.

7. As a direct and proximate result of the defendant, Dr. Flea's negligence, carelessness, and unskillfulness, XY suffered from a premature and preventable death."

When I was done reading, I was quite sure I was being indicted for manslaughter. I called my lawyer immediately and asked him what this meant.

"It means you're being sued for malpractice,” he replied matter-of-factly, "you should call your malpractice carrier and tell them."

"I have a patient waiting!" It was past 9 by now.

"Go see your patient, then call your carrier.”

After we hung up, I closed the complaint in my top desk drawer, got up, and went in to see the first patient of the day.

I am certain that curiosity will be aroused as to the particulars of this case. For the moment, I hope it will suffice to say that I am neither careless, nor unskillful, nor negligent. In order to prove a "failure to diagnose" case in pediatrics, the plaintiff's attorney will need to convince a jury that the flea is an idiot.

12:22 AM in Guest Blogger | Permalink

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Jeffrey Segal, M.D, a board-certified neurosurgeon and the founder and president of Medical Justice Services, Inc., said.
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$4.6 million
New York state grants available to expand the use of electronic medical records. Such initiatives have been hailed nationally as a way to cut medication errors, save money and improve patient safety. LINK
$700,000
Amount raised by Fairness and Accountability in Insurance Reform to oppose malpractice limits in Arizona. LINK
$450,000
Amount the Arizona Medical Association says Arizonans for Access to Health Care has raised to decide whether to push for montetary limits on lawsuits. LINK

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This Makes Me Sick

June 02, 2006

Flea Gets Sued

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