Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD - Medical Justice

Lincoln, Healthcare and the Antebellum Lawsuit Problem

August 15, 2024November 23, 2009 by Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD

SurgiStrategies Magazine By: Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD, FACS November 23, 2009 Click here to read the full article

A Funny Thing Happened On the Way To Reform

August 15, 2024November 23, 2009 by Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD

After the last election, when this nation began discussing “The Issues”, the Vice-President-elect asked us to gather in groups all across the country to discuss the things we were most concerned with, and what solutions we might have for those problems. Needless to say, healthcare reform was near the top of the list. Specifically, people wanted universal healthcare coverage, and began think-tanking ways to afford it.

Then came the inauguration and the journey towards “walking the talk”. In the months since, the country has felt a wide variety of emotions and thoughts about the people we elected, from the President on down to the hundreds of members of the House. Some have cheered; others have groaned and moaned, as some sort of vague concept of Healthcare Reform began to emerge. What became most clear, though, is that this is not the Healthcare Reform that most of us had in mind.

Breast Cancer Screening

August 15, 2024November 18, 2009 by Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD

By now, most of you have probably heard about the suggested new standards for breast cancer screening; including raising the age from forty to fifty, performing tests less frequently, and perhaps even having doctors stop teaching women to self-examine for lumps. There are reasons cited by people on both sides of this subject. There are … Read more

AMA and AARP? Oh Really?

August 15, 2024November 12, 2009 by Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD

President Obama stated that the American Medical Association and the American Association of Retired Persons both support the proposed healthcare reform bill. That’s not earth-shattering, until you think it through and realize how absolutely and ridiculously unlikely that statement really is.

The AMA claims to represent the physicians of the nation. In fact, though, they represent only a small fraction of the doctors in the United States. Their numbers have been in sharp decline for years. Some say that if they didn’t claim copyright and gain licensing money from the Procedures Codes, the AMA would have folded long ago.

Similarly, the AARP has come under scrutiny from allegations of some rather dubious advertising selections. It seems the AARP only recommends things that make them a lot of money. The organization is reported to gain fees from all manner of things that are supposedly better choices for their retiree members. Think there might be just a tad bit of bias there?

Preaching to the Choir About Healthcare Reform

August 15, 2024November 7, 2009 by Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD

The entire nation is still ablaze, talking about the healthcare reform bills. Some of the fire has been lost, owing to the way that things aren’t materializing in D.C., but the subject remains a hot topic. We within the medical profession engage loudly these days, and mostly in solidarity. The one point we’re most clear about is that any real reform MUST include a way to stop doctors from being sued just because people hope to score a jackpot judgment. We have talked about it, blogged about it, YouTube’d about it, Tweeted about it… but almost always to our peers, to each other.

It’s time to stop preaching to the choir. This message needs to get out further. Handing it to Washington, D.C. isn’t the answer. That’s already been done, and the politicians have largely – and conveniently – ignored it, (presumably because so many of their peers and cronies are lawyers making large bank on the problem.) The White House’s hand-picked, head-bobbing yes-men made their Dog & Pony Show appearance on the lawn, but nobody bought that one. What it’s going to take is for the everyman, our patients, to recognize how much those frivolous lawsuits are costing them, both financially and in terms of the quality of care we’re able to provide. Then perhaps their voices will rise up and Congress will have no choice but to address the issue.

Apology Laws: A Variety of Approaches to Discussing Adverse

August 15, 2024November 1, 2009 by Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD

American Health Lawyers Association November 2009, Vol 13, Issue 11 By: Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD, FACS; Michael J. Sacopulos, JD © 2009 American Health Lawyers Association Suite 600, 1025 Connecticut Avenue NW Washington, DC 20036-5405 Phone: 202-833-1100 Fax: 202-833-1105 Download ahla_and_im_sorry_laws_AC_Nov09

Harry Reid, Hero or Public Enemy #1?

August 15, 2024October 27, 2009 by Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD

You may want to take a seat and a few deep breaths before reading this: Harry Reid, Senate Majority Leader, was quoted by the Las Vegas Review-Journal as saying that doctors should “stop whining about this and just take care of their patients.” What is the “this” that Senator Reid says physicians are whining about? A place at the table in pounding out the details of the impending healthcare reform.

Of course, good Senator Reid! Why would a physician have any business having a say in something like that? You lawyers and politicians have it all down pat, right? Or, as is more likely, you’re busy defending the interests of your frivolous lawsuit cronies, and all these pesky doctors are getting in the way of your plans. What would physicians know about what healthcare may need? After all, they and their staffs are just working in the trenches and on the front line every day, spending their entire lives healing people. How could that possibly compare to the wisdom of an attorney/politician and a Washington three-cocktail lunch?

“What You Can Do For Your Country!”

August 15, 2024October 20, 2009 by Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD

When JFK made that famous inaugural speech on January 20, 1961, he probably wasn’t thinking of the healthcare reform issues which would come to a head nearly 50 years later. Nevertheless, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country” still rings true today.

When Barack Obama took office 48 years later, in his inaugural speech, he told us something similar. He said that the government would not make the changes for us, but that it would help us make them for ourselves. This universal truth holds strong throughout all of our lives. Others may help us, but the change must begin with us, and it is we who must see those changes through to complete fruition.

Anything For a Buck! “The following illustrates why members of the public may hold cynical views of the legal profession.”

August 15, 2024October 14, 2009 by Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD

A recent case that appeared before New York Supreme Court Justice Emily Jane Goodman demonstrates the true motive, method and means behind plaintiff attorneys and lawsuits.

For background; a patient, Victoria Kremen, had a double mastectomy after an alleged misdiagnosis of breast cancer. She hired a law firm to sue the physician, but the case was dismissed because the law firm she hired apparently missed the deadline for filing within the 2.5 year statute of limitations. Then the patient sued the law firm for malpractice, in that they missed the filing date.

Originally she was awarded judgment, but lost on appeal. In that ruling, the judge stated that she had not diligently pursued her own medical malpractice claim. So the suit against the law firm was dismissed. But wait, it gets better! The law firm then counter-sued the patient, asking for $6,000 in fees, amounts billable to the case that they lost. Justice Goodman heard the case. Her ruling includes “The following illustrates why members of the public may hold cynical views of the legal profession.” She went on to categorize the case against their former client as “nonsensical and frivolous”. Thank you, Justice Goodman.

Medical Self-Diagnosis; Fool for a Patient and a Dangerous Amount of Knowledge

August 15, 2024October 13, 2009 by Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD

There’s an old adage: The doctor who treats himself has a fool for a patient. That’s doubly true of the patient who treats himself. There’s nothing at all wrong with everyone being well-versed in a variety of subjects, including health care. So what’s the issue? At the bottom line, it’s a matter of objectivity.

A physician considers the patient’s input invaluable to diagnosis and treatment. The patient knows what feels how, where and when, knows when his or her body is “off,” and that helps doctors form a diagnosis. It’s also regularly true that the symptom can be caused by something seemingly removed and unrelated. The correct diagnosis is possible because of the doctor’s training, intuition, and ability to remain objective. If a physician were to only look in the direction the patient suggests, accurate diagnosis would be very difficult indeed.

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