Pain and litigation

[Nonphysiologic]

Do pain docs get sued often? If so what is it usually for?

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[lobelsteve]

Solicitation.

 

[Stim4me]

Do pain docs get sued often? If so what is it usually for?

$1

 

[willabeast]

Do pain docs get sued often? If so what is it usually for?

sued 2 times, i won both cases, one at arbitration and one because my attorney caught the patient in an outright lie under oath during deposition.
both of these were CRPS cases. there was a third case where i was initially the fall guy (i am still mad about this particular case). the ER had "lost" their records of this patient's visit for chest pain, and it seemed as if the ER doc etc. thought i would be the best person to blame for the patient's death of MI. fortunately, the "lost" ER record had a duplicate in a file somewhere that my attorney found, which exonerated me but made the ER doc look really bad. so even though the org lost $$ on that one, my name was eventually cleared. i think the ER doc left for another state. but from my experience (limited to 3 suits over 23 years doing mostly pain) the Dx you need to watch out for are CRPS and undiagnosed myocardial ischemia.

 

[drpainfree]

when you say watch out for CRPS, do you mean have high index of suspicion to make the diagnosis clinically? and can you further elaborate on "undiagnosed MI" from pain perspective?

 

[Aether2000]

There are actually attorneys that specialize in CRPS cases, have an encyclopedic knowledge of the medical and legal literature, and will litigate an even unlikely causation of CRPS whether it be an IV start or an interventional injection.

 

[willabeast]

when you say watch out for CRPS, do you mean have high index of suspicion to make the diagnosis clinically? and can you further elaborate on "undiagnosed MI" from pain perspective?

In my opinion many CRPS patients like to sue people . The problem with being a pain specialist is that if you have a patient who does die of a heart attack under your care then plaintiffs will try to correlate the pain you were treating with the heart condition .

 

[Extralong]

Quote from the link:

"Practitioners spend several hundred dollars in the license application process and their annual license fees can range from a few hundred to a couple thousand dollars. In other words, the PMA license process is more stringent and costly than many state license boards"

oye.

 

[clubdeac]

Quote from the link:

"Practitioners spend several hundred dollars in the license application process and their annual license fees can range from a few hundred to a couple thousand dollars. In other words, the PMA license process is more stringent and costly than many state license boards"

oye.

i missed it, what's a PMA license?

 

[Cholula]

i missed it, what's a PMA license?

Pastoral Medicine Association, Extralong put this in the wrong thread. Should go into the Doctor of Pastoral Medicine thread.

 

[Extralong]

Pastoral Medicine Association, Extralong put this in the wrong thread. Should go into the Doctor of Pastoral Medicine thread.

Oh crap. I'm really sorry about that.

 

[Vandalia]

On cue, although this is from the UK:

A lawyer who claims his life and career fell apart after he suffered a reaction while giving blood is now claiming £1.5 million in compensation. Mr Hale, 62, says he suffered a rare reaction to the needle prick in his left arm and is now plagued by 'neuropathic pain and complex regional pain syndrome'.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...on-reaction-blood-donation.html#ixzz478ZlPaZU

 

[geauxg8rs]

On cue, although this is from the UK:

A lawyer who claims his life and career fell apart after he suffered a reaction while giving blood is now claiming £1.5 million in compensation. Mr Hale, 62, says he suffered a rare reaction to the needle prick in his left arm and is now plagued by 'neuropathic pain and complex regional pain syndrome'.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...on-reaction-blood-donation.html#ixzz478ZlPaZU

You guys must not read textbooks. CRPS can only be diagnosed by orthopedic surgeons. If the X-ray shows that the joint replacement is okay, any resultant post op pain is due to CRPS. Go see pain management since my work of art is finished.

 

[Apollyon]

You guys must not read textbooks. CRPS can only be diagnosed by orthopedic surgeons. If the X-ray shows that the joint replacement is okay, any resultant post op pain is due to CRPS. Go see pain management since my work of art is finished.

Ironically, the ortho who operated on my wife said she has CRPS. I didn't even know that ortho dx CRPS was even a thing!

 

[pmrrmp]

There are actually attorneys that will...litigate an even unlikely causation of CRPS whether it be an IV start or an interventional injection.

How coincidental, I recently gave a deposition for a claim of CRPS after IV start. Not being sued thankfully but got pulled in as a treating physician. The case has all the typical red flags. History of depression, anxiety, subjective complaints without much in the way of more objective findings, CRPS supposedly spread from one arm to all 4 extremities, went from independent ambulatory to needing wheelchair, etc.

These attorneys pull in some expert witness to call it "the worst case of CRPS they've ever seen."

 

[SSdoc33]

How coincidental, I recently gave a deposition for a claim of CRPS after IV start. Not being sued thankfully but got pulled in as a treating physician. The case has all the typical red flags. History of depression, anxiety, subjective complaints without much in the way of more objective findings, CRPS supposedly spread from one arm to all 4 extremities, went from independent ambulatory to needing wheelchair, etc.

These attorneys pull in some expert witness to call it "the worst case of CRPS they've ever seen."

money well spent in our legal system.

trot reform.

 

[SSdoc33]

make that TORT reform. not sure what trot reform is. ill post it on the equine forum.

 

[Pain Applicant1]

Do pain docs get sued often? If so what is it usually for?

I believe my malpractice insurer told me that the average pain doc gets sued once every six to seven years.

 

[PainDrain]

How coincidental, I recently gave a deposition for a claim of CRPS after IV start. Not being sued thankfully but got pulled in as a treating physician. The case has all the typical red flags. History of depression, anxiety, subjective complaints without much in the way of more objective findings, CRPS supposedly spread from one arm to all 4 extremities, went from independent ambulatory to needing wheelchair, etc.

These attorneys pull in some expert witness to call it "the worst case of CRPS they've ever seen."

Who was the expert witness?

 

[pmrrmp]

Who was the expert witness?

The name escapes me. If you're really interested, shoot me a PM and I'll send an e-mail to the defense counsel.

 

[jsaul]

The name escapes me. If you're really interested, shoot me a PM and I'll send an e-mail to the defense counsel.

Dr Robert Schwartzman, the neurologist crps exeprt at Hahnemann in Philadelphia??

 

[PainDrain]

The name escapes me. If you're really interested, shoot me a PM and I'll send an e-mail to the defense counsel.

I was just curious. It always amazes me what constitutes an "expert" in a court of law.

 

[Stim4me]

Dr Robert Schwartzman, the neurologist crps exeprt at Hahnemann in Philadelphia??

Ohh yes, the ketamine King....

 

[PainDrain]

I heard of someone down in Philly who was putting people in ketamine coma for a week straight for CRPS. Was that him? According to one "patient" she would go down, pay out of pocket, be put in an ICU bed and drugged out of her mind for a week, 24hr X 7 days of ketamine.

 

[Stim4me]

I heard of someone down in Philly who was putting people in ketamine coma for a week straight for CRPS. Was that him? According to one "patient" she would go down, pay out of pocket, be put in an ICU bed and drugged out of her mind for a week, 24hr X 7 days of ketamine.

Yes it was at hanneman. I believe there were some complications. Now I hear there is a pain guru in RI pulling the same scam....

I do believe in peri operative ketamine literature during spinal surgery though...

 

[Dr. Ice]

Yes it was at hanneman. I believe there were some complications. Now I hear there is a pain guru in RI pulling the same scam....

I do believe in peri operative ketamine literature during spinal surgery though...

There are no pain gurus in RI...