Drawing on his three-plus decades of experience defending hospitals and physicians, Attorney Lee S. Goldsmith, MD, shared the common reasons behind medical malpractice suits in a Medscape article.
Here are the top five:
1. Information seeking. Dr. Goldsmith cited one instance in which a woman's husband died after visiting his primary care physician, and she went to the office for answers. When the primary care physician refused to see her, she made efforts to bring a malpractice suit against him.
"A patient who doesn't receive answers from you will seek information elsewhere. If we give information to your patient, then I have a client I can represent," Dr. Goldsmith said.
2. Billing disputes. If families are unable to pay bills, they'll turn to attorneys for relief in a billing dispute. Mr. Goldsmith recommends having an office staff member call the family to work out an arrangement for the outstanding bill.
3. Missing details. After an unsuccessful procedure, physicians might be tempted to omit information when communicating with the patient's family, Mr. Goldsmith said. However, he said, "there are ways to explain the events without admitting liability."
4. Desperation. Extend extra effort to help families who might be emotionally and financially devastated by a medical injury to avoid malpractice suits. Patients might appreciate a referral to counseling services or help developing a payment plan.
5. Reacting to a physician's actions. The mother of a child who sustained severe injuries from hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy at birth had an outburst 12 years after the obstetrician delivered her child, calling the physician a "butcher." The physician reacted by suing the woman for libel, and she filed a countersuit that resulted in a $2 million settlement. Mr. Goldsmith said this example underscores why physicians should carefully think about their actions.
"As a physician, I don't want to see malpractice and I would rather that there be no medical malpractice suits," Mr. Goldsmith said. "You as the patient's physician often (although not always) have some control over circumstances. If you mishandle a situation, the patient may go to see an attorney. It's in your best interest to make sure that doesn't happen."