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It also depends if someone turns it into the board. Boards are busy, they want slam dunk casesBingo, there's a reason every settled/lost lawsuit doesn't result in a board sanction.
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It also depends if someone turns it into the board. Boards are busy, they want slam dunk casesBingo, there's a reason every settled/lost lawsuit doesn't result in a board sanction.
My boards don't give that much specific info to the public in their disciplinesYes, if they did something wrong. But I have yet to hear of a case where a doctor followed the standard of care (even with off-label use of common meds) and was held accountable by a medical board. If you know of some, please cite the court case so the rest of us can read up on it.
The state license would be revoked not the degree. And yes it happensVery hard to lose a license from what I've seen. Look up board disciplinary decisions and it's usually "Take a course on why you shouldn't do that anymore." Never heard of a medical degree being revoked.
Of those 22 actions, ~50% were license revoked, the rest were about half "charges" with outcome TBD and punishment less than revoked (ranging from no controlled substance prescribing to a censure letter).
The take home message is that everyone who was punished did something that was SERIOUSLY, SERIOUSLY bad or SERIOUSLY BAD MANY MANY times. Also, it's almost all sex, drugs and fraud that gets people in trouble, not bad medicine.
LOLZ -_- dude you are so fine. unless this person happens to be a lawyer who graduated from a top school or maybe an MD, there is no way that they have the ability to navigate the immense storm of paperwork that your hospitals legal team will toss at them or make a coherent argument that you committed malpractice. The bad news is that there is no reasonable legal team to agree to get you off the case after your deposition.
No one serious represents themselves in a civil suit. if you have any approximation of a chance in hell of a settlement or win celino and barnes types (800-888-8888) will take your case on contingency if you can't afford a retainer.
Unrelated, but in residency, we filed for commitment on a schizophrenic gentleman who was acutely psychotic and extremely ill. Just before the commitment hearing, he fired his attorney and represented himself. Shortest commitment hearing there ever was.
Yeah, every time we heard that the patient refused to meet with the public defender and were going to represent themselves I would stop working on the d/c summary because they were pretty much guaranteed to not be going anywhere that day.
but why would u be working on the dc summary if you were probating someone? Does the court rule against you often?
One of the first things you learn in law school is to never represent yourself. If someone from a top school is doing it, they were never top school material.
Thx for the update. The lawyer stuff is still relevant in most cases. You just haven't been bitten by one.Ok, so I’m not too worried my license will be revoked. I just worry that with this ongoing thing on my record they won’t give me a license at all, or give it to me but with restrictions or conditions. I can’t have that if I want to keep my job offer.
What helps is my lawyer helped draft a summary of the relevant medical and legal details of the case for credentialing and license paperwork. So at least I can tell my side of the story. Hopefully they will believe it and not presume guilt.
I am not going to Ohio, which should help. That’s where that woman was whose license was revoked for buying a bottle of Xanax off the black market. Not that what she did was in any way appropriate, but the board went way too far.
Yeah, I won’t say any more than what I already said, that the plaintiff is representing themselves. I only mentioned that to indicate that nothing anyone said about lawyers applies, for what it’s worth.
Did you disclose your mental health struggles in your application?Ok, so I’m not too worried my license will be revoked. I just worry that with this ongoing thing on my record they won’t give me a license at all, or give it to me but with restrictions or conditions. I can’t have that if I want to keep my job offer.
What helps is my lawyer helped draft a summary of the relevant medical and legal details of the case for credentialing and license paperwork. So at least I can tell my side of the story. Hopefully they will believe it and not presume guilt.
I am not going to Ohio, which should help. That’s where that woman was whose license was revoked for buying a bottle of Xanax off the black market. Not that what she did was in any way appropriate, but the board went way too far.
Yeah, I won’t say any more than what I already said, that the plaintiff is representing themselves. I only mentioned that to indicate that nothing anyone said about lawyers applies, for what it’s worth.
I've had extensive discussions with lawyers, my treating physicians, and my PD about whether I should disclose my MH issues, and they said that they do not rise to the level of needing to be disclosed.Did you disclose your mental health struggles in your application?
You've dealt with the legal system in the past?I hate lawyers. I have been traumatized by the legal system in the past. This strikes at the core of all my fears.
If there's likely to be more of this in my future, I'm considering quitting medicine quite strongly.
Is this you? You post on your own threads with different accts?One of my co residents and the attending they were working with got named in a VA lawsuit not too long ago. So I’m actually the second in my class this has happened to.
People in my family have had legal entanglements, also personal property and custody stuff.You've dealt with the legal system in the past?
You asked me to look at the postings in the other acct but limit the people who can look..I haven't filed the application yet. I've also had extensive discussions with lawyers, my treating physicians, and my PD about whether I should disclose my MH issues, and they said that they do not rise to the level of needing to be disclosed. I am also @nonnyyy122018, so refer to the posts made about answering the licensing board question.
If you read my other post on this account, the update to it is that my performance reviews since I've made that post were some of my best, and I am definitely not probation or remediation material. The difficulties that I did have were blips on a radar that can happen to anyone. I tend to be a lot more anxious on this particular board than I am in real life.
But are you now going to tell me that I need to disclose my MH issues anyway, since confirming my worst case scenario worries seems to be your pattern? I guess I can, in case the board starts sniffing around.
Yeah, I posted that with the wrong account by mistake. That's me. Didn't mean to mislead anyone. And what I said there is true. One of my co-residents got named in a suit from her PGY1 as well. A different suit from mine. She had no issue getting jobs and a fellowship, but she is not planning to move out of state. Her suit is still pending too.Is this you? You post on your own threads with different accts?
The illness affected you enough to have to take time off from your job, which is highly relevant. Garden variety or not, that's a big deal.So yeah, the takeaways:
I have a garden variety MH diagnosis.
I have taken time off for 1 mos as a PGY3 to improve my quality of life because of it.
I have never done poorly at work. My PD, attendings, and peers will attest to this. I am a good doctor and a better than average resident.
I have excellent grades and test scores and come from a reputable school and program.
I now have this lawsuit on my hands from a patient I treated in early PGY1.
The answer to the question asked by the licensing board is no.The illness affected you enough to have to take time off from your job, which is highly relevant. Garden variety or not, that's a big deal
The hospital never asked about mental illness or time off.The illness affected you enough to have to take time off from your job, which is highly relevant. Garden variety or not, that's a big deal.
Does the hospital you're applying to know this? Did you answer their questions honestly?
Much like in other things, the board is different from when people used to sit on it.The license board's question was "if untreated, would it be likely that the illness would impair you from practicing medicine in a reasonably safe and competent way."
The answer to that question is no.
But I can disclose it if you, an internet commenter, think that my doctor, my PD, and my lawyer who used to sit as a lay member of a medical board, are wrong. I don't care at this point.
If you think I will have a problem, *help* me. Don't just feed my worst case scenario fears.Much like in other things, the board is different from when people used to sit on it.
I know the past prosecutor for our board and he can't believe how different the board is now.
Things are different when you are a physician when it comes to these questions.Look, just come out and say it - do you think my MH condition, leave, and the lawsuit are going to cause me not to get a license or to get a conditional/restricted license? Do you think I won't pass credentialing? Do I need a plan B right now that does not involve moving across state lines?
I did nothing wrong. I am doing the best I can. I want to help people and I do a good job. I am an honest and upstanding citizen. If I got restricted from working with the "issues" I have, there'd be an even more severe shortage of doctors. I'll be sidelined before I ever start practice, and who loses? The state and my potential patients.
If you think I will have a problem, *help* me. Don't just feed my worst case scenario fears.
Also, jobs are not *allowed* to ask about illness. They ask if you fall into a disability class based on anything, and I do not.
The illness affected you enough to have to take time off from your job, which is highly relevant. Garden variety or not, that's a big deal.
Yeah, but the answer to the question asked by the state still technically and truthfully "No."Things are different when you are a physician when it comes to these questions.
I can't predict the future for you, but it's better to tell the truth, imo.
A month off is a big deal.
The illness since it effects facets of your life so deeply is the definition of impairment.Yeah, but the answer to the question asked by the state still technically and truthfully "No."
The condition does not make it impossible to do a decent job taking care of patients. The condition just makes me abjectly miserable and makes me spend hours online looking for info and opinions to dissuade me from my worries. Time I could spend doing things with my family and friends and taking care of myself. My condition also made me reassurence-seek from my attendings to a degree that made them ask if I'm ok and if I need a break.
My patients were happy and appropriately treated. My notes were done. But I was abjectly miserable. I will go up in front of the board and say that but I will *not* say that my condition impairs me from being a good doctor.
Is it any more relevant than having given birth or having gotten any non-mental illness that caused them to take time off? Would you say the same if they had MS? Cancer? Inflammatory bowel disease?
I know plenty of excellent doctors at top programs who have taken way more than a month off for illness, including mental, and continue to get promoted, including above their peers.
See the quote from my other post:
Ok, I talked in a more depth to my doc since it was just a brief phone conversation before, and here are the takeaways.
The question, to remind everyone, was "have you been told by a treating provider that you have a condition, that if untreated, would be likely to impair your ability to take care of patients in a reasonably safe and competent manner?"
For my doc, the response hinges on the wording of "would be likely." The words "would" and "likely" imply a degree of certainty, which leads him to say "no" in my case. (Compare to "would likely" to "could possibly," the latter casting a wider net.)
Also, he said "impairment" is a big deal, and he is mindful of not using that word lightly, especially in notes about people in high-stakes professions like ours. Could my condition affect my practice? Yes, it could. But impair and affect are by no means the same. A good litmus test is, consider yourself on a bad day - maybe you're at the end of a long call shift, haven't slept, haven't eaten, and just got yelled at by a patient. Chances are your next clinical encounter won't be your best. Compare that to how your health condition affects you, or would affect you if untreated. If it affects you to an extent well beyond the normal variation that comes with everyday demands and stressors, that's an argument in favor of impairment.
Another way to think about it is were I to go off my meds and leave care, would he be concerned about me practicing safely and feel compelled to report me to the board. There are some conditions where he could say with a degree of certainty that things would go very poorly if one goes off their meds, such as Type I diabetes, or Bipolar disorder, or even thyroid disease. But my case isn't one of them.
They don't care about other facets of my life. They care about medicine.The illness since it effects facets of your life so deeply is the definition of impairment.
You are free to do as you wish.
But better to ask permission than forgiveness when it comes to Medical boards imo
You took a month off medicineThey don't care about other facets of my life. They care about medicine.
It's relevant to the state board.Is it any more relevant than having given birth or having gotten any non-mental illness that caused them to take time off? Would you say the same if they had MS? Cancer? Inflammatory bowel disease?
I know plenty of excellent doctors at top programs who have taken way more than a month off for illness, including mental, and continue to get promoted, including above their peers.
One of my co residents had a bad bike accident and was out of work for a month?It's relevant to the state board.
I know plenty of excellent doctors at top programs who have taken way more than a month off for illness, including mental, and continue to get promoted, including above their peers.
Do we know if it was disclosed to the board?
Did you disclose your mental health struggles in your application?
The illness affected you enough to have to take time off from your job, which is highly relevant. Garden variety or not, that's a big deal.
Does the hospital you're applying to know this? Did you answer their questions honestly?
The illness since it effects facets of your life so deeply is the definition of impairment.
You are free to do as you wish.
But better to ask permission than forgiveness when it comes to Medical boards imo
Why would I be trolling. **** happens to people.If not trolling what do you anticipate gaining from this thread?
I'll be taking a month off medicine after graduation before I start a new job?
One of my co residents had a bad bike accident and was out of work for a month?
Countless people go on maternity/paternity leave?
One of my attendings takes a month off a year to go abroad and take care of her sick father?
One of my attendings took a month long leave to bum around the world to cure burnout?
Physicians, residents included, are allowed to be ill and to have lives. They also are entitled to on average 12 weeks a year of *paid* medical leave, no questions asked. Every HR department went over this with me.
Also, I promise you, no job I applied about specific health conditions, just if I meet criteria for a disability based on a long list of Dx's none of which are mine. One job asked about leaves of absence and I said I took one for a month for a medical reason. No follow up questions were asked.
Why would I be trolling. **** happens to people.
The goal of this thread was to get support.
Then it turned into a question of whether the case I just got served with will affect my chances of getting an unrestricted license and credentialing.
And since this did get dragged up again, there’s the question of whether the lawsuit should change my decision about the MH disclosure and LOA, and whether the MH stuff, leave and lawsuit taken together make my chances worse. I would have thought no, since those are completely different issues, but who the heck knows anymore. As you may recall my main Hangup to disclosing my MH in my destination state is that I didn’t disclose it in my home state because when I first applied for a license there no leave had occurred. And no, I promise the MH issue and the lawsuit had nothing to do with one another. The leave and lawsuit were separated in time by two years, and my residency Evals were always excellent, whatever my own twisted fears of failure may have told me.
TikiTorches was not being particularly helpful because they seemed to be sending the message that ANY deviation from the completely jejune and uneventful record is a red flag for the board. I think in actuality it doesn’t quite go that far. Otherwise, we’d have no doctors.
I also believe in answering the questions that are asked, and actually taking the time to understand the question/situation/applicable terminology before I speak. If a board or employer does not ask, there’s no reason to tell them.
At the end of the day, OP, just consider that stat about half of all physicians bring sued in their career. Now consider that the vast majority of physicians are gainfully employed. This is really all you need to know.
people keep saying half are sued in their career..considering it’s generally around a 30 year career damn that seems like an underestimation
In general, yes. But in my residency and the jobs I applied for it is paid at 100% for 12 weeks, and a fraction of that thereafter.Minor correction, FMLA does mean you can get 12 weeks off in situations involving your health, caring for a loved one, new child etc. but your employer is under no obligation to pay you for that time. They only have to give you your job back at the end of 12 weeks.
Haha, I am in therapy. And it does help me function.Just a patent, but also a lawyer - a "pro se" plaintiff bringing a claim is a "tell" as to the case's merits -- if that claim had any merit, or even if it didn't ultimately have merit but was somehow plausible on its face such that it could be used to extract a significant settlement, a real lawyer would have taken the case. That the plaintiff couldn't get a lawyer speaks volumes. I completely understand how stressful it is to have been named, but in my very much lay person's opinion, OP's thought process as displayed in this thread suggests an urgent need for some serious therapy. A lot of "what if, but no, really, what if???" that is not reality-based. Lawyers have licenses too, and we get sued for malpractice, that is what insurance is for. I have colleagues who have been sued, the cases eventually settled, they are partners in major law firms and never once considered giving up their licenses and leaving the industry because they were named as defendants!
They aren't randomly distributed across the entire population of physicians, which is why when people infer from a yearly rate to "well after X number of years on average all physicians will be sued" you can go ahead and stop listening.
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1 in 3 physicians has been sued; by age 55, 1 in 2 hit with suit
Specialty, age and gender tied to liability risk, says new research. Reforms are needed to fix the liability system that imposes high burdens on U.S. health care.www.ama-assn.org
This AMA article suggests a cross sectional study design, and says by 55 half of physicians are sued. But by 40, only 8% are. And only 16% if psychiatrists get sued. I’m also female (funny that all of you though I was male), so that makes me even less likely to be sued. I guess as a young female psychiatrist I am “lucky” that way.
Hopefully though boards don’t aren’t so granular in their approach that they’d be like, hmmm, she got sued in a low litigation specialty her first year in this career, must be a rotten doctor. That’s some tinfoil hat thinking going on there.
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