So – is it against the law to pay patients for online reviews? The short answer… Yes. The more nuanced longer version… Giving anything of value for reviews without disclosing the gift can be considered false and deceptive advertising by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). It does not matter if it is $1, an Amazon … Read more
DEFENDANT A physician in Florida was sued for a missed diagnosis. He was not a member of Medical Justice at the time he was sued. PLAINTIFF’S EXPERT Early in the case, testimony from the plaintiff’s expert suggested a strong case of obvious negligence and plaintiff’s counsel placed an initial value on the case of $300,000. … Read more
DEFENDANT The defendant in this case is a plan member and a spine surgeon who was sued for issues related to placement of spinal instrumentation for a cervical fracture. The patient had no neurological deficits and the instrumentation was placed according to the manufacturer’s instructions. PLAINTIFF’S EXPERT CASE OUTCOME The medical malpractice case was dismissed … Read more
DEFENDANT Eleven physicians and a hospital were sued individually for care rendered to a patient with acute fulminant pancreatitis. This medical malpractice case had been terminated prior to purchase of Medical Justice membership. PLAINTIFF’S EXPERT The expert hired to testify in this medical malpractice case was a neurologist. However, pancreatitis is a condition that is … Read more
DEFENDANT The defendant was a general surgeon who was not a plan member at the time the medical malpractice suit was filed. He presented to Medical Justice with an open case. This physician was being sued for failure to “fish out” a small gallstone that had dropped during a laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The allegation was that … Read more
Before we begin, a brief reminder: Medical Justice provides consultations to doctors facing medico-legal obstacles. We have solutions for patient conflicts, unwarranted demands for refunds, online defamation (patient review mischief) and meritless litigation. We also provide counsel specific to COVID-19. If you are navigating a medico-legal obstacle, request a consultation. Dr. Roger Seheult is arguably America’s … Read more
Before we begin, a brief reminder: Medical Justice provides consultations to doctors facing medico-legal obstacles. We have solutions for patient conflicts, unwarranted demands for refunds, online defamation (patient review mischief) and meritless litigation. We also provide counsel specific to COVID-19. If you are navigating a medico-legal obstacle, request a consultation. Tired of COVID-19? Me too. … Read more
Elite Dental Associates, a Dallas dental practice, just wrote a check for $10,000 to the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) for Dept. Health and Human Services. The reason. A HIPAA violation. What “egregious” act did the practice commit? Responding to negative reviews on Yelp. OCR’s investigation found that the dental practice had impermissibly disclosed the … Read more
In February, we published two articles related to patient reviews. One piece was published online. The second was made available for download. Both remain available, and we encourage our readers to study them. Considering the overwhelmingly positive reception both pieces received, we decided to return to the topic and discuss five more golden rules physicians should follow when responding … Read more
A patient was rushed to the E.R. after a lawnmower lacerated his forearm. Sitting on the counter was a product called CaviCide. What’s CaviCide? An industrial strength pesticide. Absolutely not for human use. Which, of course, is precisely why the attending physician and his nurse sprayed it repeatedly into the patient’s gaping wound. How did this happen? … Read more
