Comments on: The Trial of a Whitecoat – Disclaimer

By: The Trial of a Whitecoat : A Doctor Blogs About His Malpractice Case | Wild Healer: Reflections

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 08:58:38 +0000

[...] The Trial of a Whitecoat [...]

By: 219

219 — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 18:44:17 +0000

I think most people can imagine how stressful it is for a physician to battle a lawsuit and face potentially losing reputation and assets. In the same vein, I think the popular perception is that [i]all[/i] plaintiffs are acting strictly out of greed and malice, cackling at the thought of ruining someone’s character and livelihood. As you said, it’s a matter of “who loses least.” However, it can be argued that most plaintiffs have “lost” before they ever contact an attorney – even if they win the case, their life will never be what it was before the alleged incident.

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 21:02:57 +0000

“Even if you made an error, you’re human. Sometimes I wish patients could understand that more.”

In many cases, the patients don’t understand that because the hospital and physician don’t treat them as humans. They clam up, and don’t say a word.

As for ethical, it’s not unethical in the least, so kudos to you for having the courage to write about it. Hopefully you can do it without the usual doctor nonsense about how everyone who files is just greedy, etc. etc. It’s a shame we can’t get a patient who has been the victim of malpractice to do the same, so both of the parties involved could explain their thoughts about the process.

By: Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD

Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 12:55:19 +0000

The story you are telling is compelling and visceral. Can our organization, Medical Justice, have permission to send a copy of it to our member physicians? We count over 2,000 doctors as plan members. Our goal is to keep physicians from being sued for frivolous reasons. We resognize that malpractice does occur and negligently injured patients deserve a reasonable remedy. But, the current system works poorly for both patients and doctors. By the way, I say that as a neurtosurgeon who was sued one time. The sole expert was another neurosurgeon who had been suspended and then expelled from our professional society for delivering “unethical” testimony.

By: crisitunity

crisitunity — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 22:26:30 +0000

I work for a med mal plaintiffs’ firm, and I couldn’t agree more with your sum-up of the process. Nobody wins. The plaintiffs are dragged through the minute and intimate details of the loss they suffered over and over, for years, and the doctor is in the worst career situation possible.

By: William the Coroner

William the Coroner — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 03:28:53 +0000

I was reading the Flea saga when it all came down. I couldn’t believe he was stupid enough to live blog his trial and write those things. Flea is an arrogant ass. That contempt shown through, and that is what really stung him.

By: toni

toni — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 03:26:35 +0000

I am back from vacation and catching up on your blog. A big Thank You for keeping it real. Enjoy your posts and missed them!

By: ERP

ERP — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 03:07:26 +0000

I won’t be bored. Do tell. Details please…..

By: Daedalus_MS1

Daedalus_MS1 — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 02:36:11 +0000

Thank you for sharing your story, WC – I’m definitely looking forward to reading about it! As a future physician likely going into EM, it’s great to hear about these things from your perspective.

By: Mottsapplesauce

Mottsapplesauce — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 01:27:27 +0000

If it’s any consolation, I had no doubts & knew you wouldn’t put yourself in a hairy predicament when you created the previous post, and found it very refreshing to hear the case from a physician’s point of view. Great job, WC.