Anesthesiologist trashes sedated patient — and it ends up costing her

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While I'm not defending the actions of the physicians here,I call BS on the idea that the patient "turned on his phone [before the procedure] so he could capture the post-scope instructions." Patients don't do that unless they're paranoid or have reason to be.
 
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I don't see how this is slander if it is between 2 doctors and a nurse that knows they are full of $hit. I bet they used to do the same with every other case. It should have been a misconduct case handled by the board. If we were going to sue for every time someone talks $hit behind our backs we would all be millionaires.

I have to admit that I have witnessed this kind of behavior over and over.
 
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How did he get to keep his cellphone on him? I take it that VA is a state where recordings where only one party is aware of the recording is permissible.
 
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One of the jurors, Farid Khairzada, said that “there was not much defense, because everything was on tape.” He said that the man’s attorneys asked for $1.75 million and that the $500,000 award was a compromise between one juror who thought the man deserved nothing and at least one who thought he deserved more.

“We finally came to a conclusion,” Khairzada said, “that we have to give him something, just to make sure that this doesn’t happen again.”
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Not condoning the behavior on an ethical level, but, uhh... that's not how the jury system is meant to work.
 
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BLADEMDA said:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/thr...on-leads-to-patient-suing-anesthesia.1067352/

Read this thread and the predictions that the case would settle out of court for $100k. Instead, the case went to trial and Ingham lost her job.
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Heh ...

BuzzPhreed said:
It's going to settle out of court.

And it will soon be completely forgotten .

Except for on this forum.

Where it has been memorialized.

And where some yokel will resurrect it two or more years from now trying to make some point or other.

I almost guarantee that.
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That there is funny. :) BLADEMDA the yokel!


Totally predictable outcome.
 
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This goes to show how f-ed up the entire medical tort system is. And also why military service should be compulsory for everybody (people would toughen up a bit, and stop blowing things out of proportion).

What's next? Infliction of emotional distress because a fly bit the patient while he was in the hospital?

I am not condoning the behavior either. But this is something that should have been handled by the Medical Board, not a court. The patient can go home and spend his money feeling happy that he made medicine even more expensive for 300M Americans. He will always be in our thoughts and prayers.
 
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Just browsed through a lot of the comments on the WaPo article. The vast majority (especially the ones with the most "likes") absolutely devastate the physicians. No mercy for the physicians. Saying stuff along the lines of, it serves them right, good they were taught a lesson, these physicians are incompetent, etc. The irony is I bet if someone recorded most of these commenters at their various jobs, then they'd also be caught talking sh** or whatever about a customer. But does rude talk mean they're incompetent at their jobs? Not necessarily. Yet the general public has no problem trashing physicians. It's a double standard.

I'm not at all saying these physicians weren't douchebags. They definitely are. Rather, what I'm saying is their punishment doesn't fit the crime. It seems out of proportion. It seems overly harsh.
 
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bashwell said:
Just browsed through a lot of the comments on the WaPo article. The vast majority (especially the ones with the most "likes") absolutely devastate the physicians. No mercy for the physicians. Saying stuff along the lines of, it serves them right, good they were taught a lesson, these physicians are incompetent, etc. The irony is I bet if someone recorded most of these commenters at their various jobs, then they'd also be caught talking sh** or whatever about a customer. But does rude talk mean they're incompetent at their jobs? Not necessarily. Yet the general public has no problem trashing physicians. It's a double standard.

I'm not at all saying these physicians weren't douchebags. They definitely are. Rather, what I'm saying is their punishment doesn't fit the crime. It seems out of proportion. It seems overly harsh.
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That's the "take away message" from this thread: the public holds you to the highest standards at all times and this includes awarding monetary damages/malpractice against Physicians for simply saying offensive comments.

The $200K Malpractice portion of the verdict was suppossedly for marking down "hemorrhoids" when not actually existed but this was just an excuse for the jurors to award more money to the plaintiff.
 
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I don't understand this verdict and neither do many (any?) of the people that commented.
The GI guy was the one that falsified records and instructed the tech to lie to the patient and he was dropped from the suit on the first day. Suing the anesthesiologist for a diagnosis someone else puts in the chart is lunacy.
Where is the 200k worth of malpractice on the part of the anesthesiologist?
I bet he is still working there as $$ talks, loudly.
It's also amusing that if she just called him a limp dick pillow biter instead of "defaming" him in front of the non physician technician and/or nurse with STD diagnoses they may not have had a case against her at all and they wouldn't have dropped the GI guy.
Stupid Physicians and a stupid jury.
 
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Morzh said:
Not condoning the behavior on an ethical level, but, uhh... that's not how the jury system is meant to work.
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I basically posted this exact comment on allo. You beat me by 3 hours. Jury system for medical torts is asinine.
 
punitive damages are not usually covered by insurance. The anesthesiologist will most likely be writing a personal check.
 
jw3600 said:
Jury system for medical torts is asinine.
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Yes, because it's not a jury of peers. I know it sounds elitist, but one cannot be my "peer" until one has walked in my shoes. That's exactly the idea behind medical courts in most countries.
 
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IlDestriero said:
The GI guy was the one that falsified records and instructed the tech to lie to the patient and he was dropped from the suit on the first day. Suing the anesthesiologist for a diagnosis someone else puts in the chart is lunacy.
Where is the 200k worth of malpractice on the part of the anesthesiologist?
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It sounded like from the article that the anesthesiologist recorded the history of hemorrhoids on her preanesthetic evaluation?

I, too, am bothered by the juror's comments. I don't see how recording a history of hemorrhoids where none exist is $200K worth of malpractice damage. $200K worth of unethical behavior, maybe, but I doubt the medical consequences were any $, much less $200K.

Also, I agree with those doubting the patient's motivation to record post-op instructions and forgot to turn it on. He was either A) paranoid that something like that would happen, B) hoping something like that would happen with the intent to profit off it, or C) maybe even tipped off that that kind of stuff was happening at that office and was anticipating it happening?

Not that any of that matters, because the best way to not get caught is to be a decent human being and not do it in the first place.

Also, does anyone else appreciate the irony of the anesthesiologist talking trash about a patient needing to toughen up after the patient goes to sleep? If she were really tough, she'd have just said it to his face.
 
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I've decided to never speak again at work. Mute, son.

Edit:
I found it interesting that there was one juror that said he deserved nothing.. I'm gonna buy that person a drink.

2nd Edit:
I also fear the flood gate this may open. Now EVERYONE is gonna try to record stuff in the OR and try to get paid. We just have to be careful and save our jokes for the pub now.
 
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Twiggidy said:
2nd Edit:
I also fear the flood gate this may open. Now EVERYONE is gonna try to record stuff in the OR and try to get paid.
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You can bet on it. This is where being in a two-party state will matter a lot.
 
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Twiggidy said:
I've decided to never speak again at work. Mute, son.
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This is not only about work. If you are a physician, anybody anywhere can record you and hold it against your "professionalism". Even summarily judge you and lynch your career, in the kangaroo court of public opinion. You are just a greedy bastard, and you deserve everything bad happening to you. That is the lesson.

The other lesson is that Americans are being allowed to become overly-sensitive and politically correct. Freedom of speech has never been under attack more. This can lead to an authoritarian-type society, where everybody is afraid to really speak their mind, for fear of repercussions. Which is kind of what's happening in medicine. (Does "disruptive physicians" ring a bell?)
 
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Ahh you beat me to it. I came here to post the link and it was already done. Well done sir/mam. You won this round.
 
urge said:
I don't see how this is slander if it is between 2 doctors and a nurse that knows they are full of $hit. I bet they used to do the same with every other case. It should have been a misconduct case handled by the board. If we were going to sew for every time someone talks $hit behind our backs we would all be millionaires.

I have to admit that I have witnessed this kind of behavior over and over.
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Know a lawyer really well, talked to him about this. Defamation, by its legal definition, happens every single time somebody says something about another to a third party that is not true, whether it is good or bad. The main reasons people don't sue for this every time is because 1)they didn't know it happened and/or 2)they can't prove it happened. Here, there was a recording. It's slightly different if the victim is a public figure-in that case it has to be proven that the allegedly-slandering party had malicious intent. But with average joes, talking crap behind anybody's back is legally defamation and you can be sued for it if they find out about it and can prove it.

IlDestriero said:
I don't understand this verdict and neither do many (any?) of the people that commented.
The GI guy was the one that falsified records and instructed the tech to lie to the patient and he was dropped from the suit on the first day. Suing the anesthesiologist for a diagnosis someone else puts in the chart is lunacy.
Where is the 200k worth of malpractice on the part of the anesthesiologist?
I bet he is still working there as $$ talks, loudly.
It's also amusing that if she just called him a limp dick pillow biter instead of "defaming" him in front of the non physician technician and/or nurse with STD diagnoses they may not have had a case against her at all and they wouldn't have dropped the GI guy.
Stupid Physicians and a stupid jury.
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The way I read the article it seems that it was actually the anesthesiologist who wrote hemorrhoids in the chart. It says Shah, the GI, just didn't stop her. Shah was dismissed from the case because he didn't actually participate in anything illegal. He said "As long as it's not Ebola, youre ok" or something like that, which could be perceived as participating in the "fun," but is technically not illegal/defamation because his statement was not directly referencing the patient. If he had said "he has ebola," it might have been different.

FFP said:
This goes to show how f-ed up the entire medical tort system is. And also why military service should be compulsory for everybody (people would toughen up a bit, and stop blowing things out of proportion).

What's next? Infliction of emotional distress because a fly bit the patient while he was in the hospital?

I am not condoning the behavior either. But this is something that should have been handled by the Medical Board, not a court. The patient can go home and spend his money feeling happy that he made medicine even more expensive for 300M Americans. He will always be in our thoughts and prayers.
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In Virginia, the law defines medical malpractice as anytime a healthcare professional commits medical negligence. "Negligence" here does not take the same definition as it does in other types of cases. Here, medical negligence is simply anytime the provider breaches the standard of care. The standard of care is defined as the generally accepted practice by other professionals in the region. As this was a clear breach of the standard of care, the doctor committed medical negligence, which means there was malpractice, which is a legal matter in addition to being an ethical matter. I don't want to sound like I'm vehemently disagreeing with you, because I'm not. I'm just relaying what the lawyer told me. I may agree that the amount might have been too high, but I certainly agree with the decision to deal with it in court, as it is a legal matter. The physicians should know the basics of medical malpractice laws in their states imho.
 
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WholeLottaGame7 said:
It sounded like from the article that the anesthesiologist recorded the history of hemorrhoids on her preanesthetic evaluation?

I, too, am bothered by the juror's comments. I don't see how recording a history of hemorrhoids where none exist is $200K worth of malpractice damage. $200K worth of unethical behavior, maybe, but I doubt the medical consequences were any $, much less $200K.
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Since hemorrhoids are NORMAL cushions of tissue that we ALL have, I'm not sure how writing it on the scope report is malpractice.

Also, I agree with those doubting the patient's motivation to record post-op instructions and forgot to turn it on. He was either A) paranoid that something like that would happen, B) hoping something like that would happen with the intent to profit off it, or C) maybe even tipped off that that kind of stuff was happening at that office and was anticipating it happening?
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Exactly. It was one of those. Surgeons/gastroenterologist don't give patients verbal post-op/post-scope instructions while they're under anesthesia. It would have been provided in the office beforehand and probably another written copy provided at the time of the discharge from the PACU by nursing staff.
 
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Denny Crane said:
I may agree that the amount might have been too high, but I certainly agree with the decision to deal with it in court, as it is a legal matter.
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Almost everything can be a legal matter. The average person breaks a law at least once a week, unknowingly. That does not mean that we should make everything into a legal case. It's just not OK, for any society.

a_1278_20150202153254.jpg
 
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Denny Crane said:
In Virginia, the law defines medical malpractice as anytime a healthcare professional commits medical negligence. "Negligence" here does not take the same definition as it does in other types of cases. Here, medical negligence is simply anytime the provider breaches the standard of care. The standard of care is defined as the generally accepted practice by other professionals in the region. As this was a clear breach of the standard of care, the doctor committed medical negligence, which means there was malpractice, which is a legal matter in addition to being an ethical matter.
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As far as I have read the article, there should have been no malpractice because there was no physical damage to the patient, except to his ego. According to your logic, a doctor who tells a patient she's ugly and fat, even in private, is guilty of medical negligence and malpractice, and the patient should sue for punitive damages.

I hope this gets reversed on appeal. This was a mockery of the justice system.

Just to make sure that the PC-minded don't misunderstand something here: I am not defending the physicians. What they did was stupid, unprofessional, and they should have known better. I just don't believe this case belonged in a court. It might make some people behave better but, overall, all it does is provoke more defensive medicine, at even higher costs.
 
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FFP said:
According to your view, a doctor who tells who tells a patient she's ugly and fat, even in private, is guilty of medical negligence and malpractice, and the patient should sue for punitive damages.
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we were talking about this very thing at work. a cardiologist says he doesn't write "obese" on his charts because if a patient sees it he doesn't want trouble. he instead just writes the BMI. another gyn onc here, he asst ( a gen surg) says patients whine to him all the time because they say the gyn onc says one of the reasons their at risk for their cancers is because they're overweight/obese and they take offense.

we, as physicians, all know that obese is a medical term and a classification, but patients take offense and try to go to lawyers with it. unfortunately you wont find a jury in America that will sympathize with a physician.

Honestly, SDN can be ridiculous at times, but I'm actually glad i troll this forum because I learn alot and it does affect how I practice moving forward. I'm careful of what I say around patients awake or otherwise, but given that for now I practice in the U.S. with a U.S. legal system, I'm gonna be more careful

Basically.....
201412_1727_ggcia_sm.jpg
 
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If patients even heard 1/10 of what's said in an operating room most surgeons and anesthesiologists would lose their retirement savings.
 
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Winged Scapula said:
While I'm not defending the actions of the physicians here,I call BS on the idea that the patient "turned on his phone [before the procedure] so he could capture the post-scope instructions." Patients don't do that unless they're paranoid or have reason to be.
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I also agree that the physicians' actions were less than professional, however, I really agree with your paranoid (or perhaps looking for an excuse to litigate) contention.
 
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Denny Crane said:
1 Know a lawyer really well, talked to him about this. Defamation, by its legal definition, happens every single time somebody says something about another to a third party that is not true, whether it is good or bad. The main reasons people don't sue for this every time is because 1)they didn't know it happened and/or 2)they can't prove it happened. Here, there was a recording. It's slightly different if the victim is a public figure-in that case it has to be proven that the allegedly-slandering party had malicious intent. But with average joes, talking crap behind anybody's back is legally defamation and you can be sued for it if they find out about it and can prove it.



2 In Virginia, the law defines medical malpractice as anytime a healthcare professional commits medical negligence. "Negligence" here does not take the same definition as it does in other types of cases. Here, medical negligence is simply anytime the provider breaches the standard of care. The standard of care is defined as the generally accepted practice by other professionals in the region. As this was a clear breach of the standard of care, the doctor committed medical negligence, which means there was malpractice, which is a legal matter in addition to being an ethical matter. I don't want to sound like I'm vehemently disagreeing with you, because I'm not. I'm just relaying what the lawyer told me. I may agree that the amount might have been too high, but I certainly agree with the decision to deal with it in court, as it is a legal matter. The physicians should know the basics of medical malpractice laws in their states imho.
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1 How come a different set of rules apply for a public figure? That's messed up.

2 Let's say this were a morbidly obese patient that you had to position on a Jackson table. The standard of care is off on that one. I have not seen one yet where people in the room manage to keep a straight face or not curse the gods. What's up with the double standard?
 
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Whether we believe it or not or that it's appropriate or not, there is a certain decorum that comes with being a physician. This is what the public perceives (again who knows if that's true). So if the public gets wind of a physician acting inappropriate (who defines this? ....who knows?) of course they're going to sympathize with the patient.

Does it happen everyday? Yep, but so do alot of other questionable things in medicine. It's just that she got caught. It's like they say about Pass Interference in football. It likely happens on just about every passing play, but you get flagged if you get caught. She got caught and she got flagged. Again, my take away is just to be careful what you say around patients because the public is in their corner.
 
Winged Scapula said:
Since hemorrhoids are NORMAL cushions of tissue that we ALL have, I'm not sure how writing it on the scope report is malpractice.

According to my understanding from my discussion with the lawyer, it's not malpractice because she put hemorrhoids per se, but because she violated the Virginia "standard of care" which is defined as the commonly accepted practice. So, the question becomes not "Did the patient have or not have hemorrhoids?", but "Is the commonly accepted practice in the region amongst doctors to write hemorrhoids on the chart in an instance such as this one?" And if the answer is no, it is malpractice.

FFP said:
Almost everything can be a legal matter. The average person breaks a law at least once a week, unknowingly. That does not mean that we should make everything into a legal case. It's just not OK, for any society.

This is true. But, if somebody is going to act on a legal issue, I prefer they actually do it in the courts, as that is the only appropriate venue for such things. So, do I think the patient should have sued? Well I probably wouldn't have. But, since the patient did decide to take action, I think he/she picked the appropriate venue in which to do it, since it is a legal matter.

FFP said:
As far as I have read the article, there should have been no malpractice because there was no physical damage to the patient, except to his ego. According to your logic, a doctor who tells a patient she's ugly and fat, even in private, is guilty of medical negligence and malpractice, and the patient should sue for punitive damages.
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This is not my view, I'm just trying to provide a legal perspective. As for a specific instance like you mentioned. I believe it would come down to whether or not the lawyers could convince the judge/jury that, when the doctor told the patient she's ugly and fat, the doctor was actually "practicing" medicine. If they could convince the judge/jury of that, then I would presume the doctor would be found to have committed malpractice. However, if they could not convince them of that, then probably not. Nothing in law is black and white. It all comes down to convincing. One side would argue that at the moment the doctor relayed the insult, he/she was obviously no longer "practicing" medicine, because there is no medical necessity to inform the patient he/she is ugly (the fat part could be slightly different, if talking about obesity). Therefore, no standard of care was breached because nobody was practicing medicine in that instance. The other side would argue, the doctor was obviously still practicing medicine because they were in the office and the patient would not have been there if not to receive medical advice. And it would all come down to who could be the most convincing with their argument.

Sorry, new to SDN, and have not really figured out how to reply to multiple threads, so I have bolded what I said in this post.
 
urge said:
1 How come a different set of rules apply for a public figure? That's messed up.

2 Let's say this were a morbidly obese patient that you had to position on a Jackson table. The standard of care is off on that one. I have not seen one yet where people in the room manage to keep a straight face or not curse the gods. What's up with the double standard?
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If you are interested, I would recommend reading through New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254. It is taught in every 1L torts class nationwide as one of the foundations of libel/slander/defamation cases. It basically set up the rules for defamation against public figures, and the rules have yet to be overturned. I should probably say, since I'm talking about a lot of legal stuff on here, that I am not a lawyer. I just come from a family of lawyers and wanted to be one myself for awhile. For as long as I can remember I have been reading cases and appellate briefs and discussing them ad nauseum with my lawyer family members, so I believe I have a good foundation of knowledge. But I have not been to law school.

As far as the Jackson table thing, in a case like that, if being vocally frustrated like that is commonplace as you say, then one could argue that the standard of care has not been breached. The defense could bring doctor after doctor up on the witness stand and get them to testify that they often vocally express frustration in similar fashion when confronted with a situation like that.
 
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Denny Crane said:
As far as the Jackson table thing, in a case like that, if being vocally frustrated like that is commonplace as you say, then one could argue that the standard of care has not been breached. The defense could bring doctor after doctor up on the witness stand and get them to testify that they often vocally express frustration in similar fashion when confronted with a situation like that.
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Don't hold your breath. :laugh:
 
urge said:
1 How come a different set of rules apply for a public figure? That's messed up.
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The rules are different because if there was an easy/low bar for public figures (particularly politicians) to successfully sue people for saying things that aren't perfectly factually true about them, even if out of ignorance, or in idle chitchat, or as hyperbole, or as a rhetorical device during a discussion about that public figure, it would have a stifling effect on free speech as it pertains to elections and public discussions of matters that impact the community.

They choose a life in the public eye, so the courts have taken the position that they need slightly thicker skin. That's all.
 
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Denny Crane said:
According to my understanding from my discussion with the lawyer, it's not malpractice because she put hemorrhoids per se, but because she violated the Virginia "standard of care" which is defined as the commonly accepted practice. So, the question becomes not "Did the patient have or not have hemorrhoids?", but "Is the commonly accepted practice in the region amongst doctors to write hemorrhoids on the chart in an instance such as this one?" And if the answer is no, it is malpractice.
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Was this a malpractice attorney you spoke with? The mere presence of doing something which may not be "commonly accepted" practice does not denote malpractice.

First, it is likely that there is no "standard of care" when it comes to denoting the presence of normal hemorrhoids found during a colonoscopy. Everyone will do it differently: some only note abnormal findings, others will note normal and abnormal.

But most importantly for it to be malpractice you must demonstrate that there was some harm to a patient. The notation that a patient possesses normal anatomy (e.g. hemorrhoids) is no different than stating he has 2 arms, or 2 legs, etc. This is an observation which is factually correct and does not harm the patient.

It is clear that patients do object to documentation of objective findings ("obese", "continues to smoke", "below normal IQ") but they must demonstrate harm or injury for malpractice to occur. They might not like it but its not malpractice to state that a patient is medically obese or possesses normal anatomy like hemorrhoidal cushions.

Specifically in the state of Virginia: Under Virginia law, medical malpractice means “any tort action or breach of contract action for personal injuries or wrongful death, based on health care or professional services rendered, or which should have been rendered, by a health care provider, to a patient." Put simply, medical malpractice claims arise from health care worker / patient relationships, where the patient experiences damages (physical and/or financial), as a result of the health care provider’s negligence.
 
Winged Scapula said:
Was this a malpractice attorney you spoke with? The mere presence of doing something which may not be "commonly accepted" practice does not denote malpractice.

First, it is likely that there is no "standard of care" when it comes to denoting the presence of normal hemorrhoids found during a colonoscopy. Everyone will do it differently: some only note abnormal findings, others will note normal and abnormal.

But most importantly for it to be malpractice you must demonstrate that there was some harm to a patient. The notation that a patient possesses normal anatomy (e.g. hemorrhoids) is no different than stating he has 2 arms, or 2 legs, etc. This is an observation which is factually correct and does not harm the patient.

It is clear that patients do object to documentation of objective findings ("obese", "continues to smoke", "below normal IQ") but they must demonstrate harm or injury for malpractice to occur. They might not like it but its not malpractice to state that a patient is medically obese or possesses normal anatomy like hemorrhoidal cushions.
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Yes it was. Well, a litigator at least. And he/she did have more to say as far as the defamation was concerned than the malpractice portion. I'm not disagreeing with you, WingedScapula. I don't know enough to warrant disagreeing with you. And I would find it hard to believe that an accomplished physician like you does not know the ins and outs of malpractice. But you and the lawyer I spoke with would probably be in disagreement when it comes to what constitutes malpractice in VA.

I believe he/she would probably say it came down to who could get more expert testimony validating or not validating the action to put hemorrhoids down in that instance as appropriate, or the commonly accepted practice, that would determine the standard of care.
 
Denny Crane said:
Yes it was. Well, a litigator at least. And he/she did have more to say as far as the defamation was concerned than the malpractice portion. I'm not disagreeing with you, WingedScapula. I don't know enough to warrant disagreeing with you. And I would find it hard to believe that an accomplished physician like you does not know the ins and outs of malpractice. But you and the lawyer I spoke with would probably be in disagreement when it comes to what constitutes malpractice in VA.
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I didn't mean to imply that we were arguing or that you disagreed with me. And I don't mean to malign what is probably a family member, but there's a difference between a litigator and a litigator that does a lot of medical malpractice. Believe me, if and when you ever are sued for malpractice, you hope the plaintiff hires someone who doesn't litigate malpractice because there is a difference. But that's off topic...

Unfortunately I have some experience with medical malpractice litigation, and if Virginia wants to define negligence = malpractice that's fine, but as I (added above after you replied), they still have to prove damages and/or injury. Virginia State law requires that the health care provider failed to provide care in accordance with “the degree of skill and diligence practiced by a reasonably prudent practitioner in the field of practice or specialty in this Commonwealth” and that the health care provider’s negligence was the cause of the plaintiff's damages.

Thus the documentation of the presence of hemorrhoids does not cause damage and is probably one of the reasons the gastroenterologist was dropped from the suit.

I'm still not sure what the injury was that resulted in the anesthesiologist being sued.
 
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pgg said:
The rules are different because if there was an easy/low bar for public figures (particularly politicians) to successfully sue people for saying things that aren't perfectly factually true about them, even if out of ignorance, or in idle chitchat, or as hyperbole, or as a rhetorical device during a discussion about that public figure, it would have a stifling effect on free speech as it pertains to elections and public discussions of matters that impact the community.

They choose a life in the public eye, so the courts have taken the position that they need slightly thicker skin. That's all.
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This. In addition to the fact that it would absolutely clog up the courts with an absurd amount of lawsuits if there were not a higher standard for public figures. Could you imagine all the crazy Beliebers out there who would file suit when somebody made fun of their beloved Justin?
 
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Winged Scapula said:
I didn't mean to imply that we were arguing or that you disagreed with me. And I don't mean to malign what is probably a family member, but there's a difference between a litigator and a litigator that does a lot of medical malpractice. Believe me, if and when you ever are sued for malpractice, you hope the plaintiff hires someone who doesn't litigate malpractice because there is a difference. But that's off topic...

Unfortunately I have some experience with medical malpractice litigation, and if Virginia wants to define negligence = malpractice that's fine, but as I (added above after you replied), they still have to prove damages and/or injury. Virginia State law requires that the health care provider failed to provide care in accordance with “the degree of skill and diligence practiced by a reasonably prudent practitioner in the field of practice or specialty in this Commonwealth” and that the health care provider’s negligence was the cause of the plaintiff's damages.

Thus the documentation of the presence of hemorrhoids does not cause damage and is probably one of the reasons the gastroenterologist was dropped from the suit.

I'm still not sure what the injury was that resulted in the anesthesiologist being sued.
Click to expand...

If injury is in fact required for malpractice, then I don't know why malpractice was in the picture either. Maybe there is something we don't know from the article that will come out eventually. Or maybe they were just sued on defamation and not malpractice? I can't remember if the article specifies or not. Or maybe the whole thing is a load of fecal matter, pun intended, and it will get overturned on appeal.
 
Denny Crane said:
If injury is in fact required for malpractice, then I don't know why malpractice was in the picture either. Maybe there is something we don't know from the article that will come out eventually. Or maybe they were just sued on defamation and not malpractice? I can't remember if the article specifies or not. Or maybe the whole thing is a load of fecal matter, pun intended, and it will get overturned on appeal.
Click to expand...
Since its not a primary source document, its possible that it wasn't for malpractice but rather for defamation (which I can't speak about). It wouldn't the first time the news media has gotten it wrong. ;)
 
When must you get permission from everyone involved before recording?

Eleven states require the consent of every party to a phone call or conversation in order to make the recording lawful. These "two-party consent" laws have been adopted in California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Washington. (Notes: (1) Illinois' two-party consent statute was held unconstitutional in 2014; (2) Hawai'i is in general a one-party state, but requires two-party consent if the recording device is installed in a private place; (3) Massachusetts bans "secret" recordings rather than requiring explicit consent from all parties.). Although they are referred to as "two-party consent" laws, consent must be obtained from every party to a phone call or conversation if it involves more than two people. In some of these states, it might be enough if all parties to the call or conversation know that you are recording and proceed with the communication anyway, even if they do not voice explicit consent. See the State Law: Recording section of this legal guide for information on specific states' wiretapping laws.


In my State this "lawsuit" would never have occurred because the recording of the conversation in the procedure room/Gi suite is illegal without the consent of the others in the room.
 
BLADEMDA said:
http://www.medschool.lsuhsc.edu/faculty/docs/CV-Tiffany Ingham 2.pdf


She is a Major in the USAF reserves. I believe she may be working in Florida now as she is no longer practicing in VIrginia.
Click to expand...

She's not at Florida hospital waterman anymore. However that may be more due to JLR buyout/US anesthesia partners than the lawsuit. Or maybe during Sheridan temporarily holding contract at waterman than losing it again. Guy from Ocala Florida had previously owned the waterman general anesthesia contract. It's just weird how they do it there with "independent cardiac anesthesiologist" who is not with JLR doing cardiac at waterman and JLR running the general side.

She's in another state.
 
Here is the actual case if anyone would like to read it.
 
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Aisthesis is another AMC. They were formerly known as "safe sedation" and have many contracts in the DC area.
 
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