Healthcare Reform - Medical Justice

Cameras in the OR. And Promises Plaintiff’s Attorneys Will Never Get to Peek.

August 15, 2024April 5, 2023 by Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD

Medical Justice provides consultations to doctors facing medico-legal obstacles. We have solutions for doctor-patient conflicts, unwarranted demands for refunds, online defamation (patient review mischief), meritless litigation, and a gazillion other issues. We also provide counsel specific to COVID-19. If you are navigating a medico-legal obstacle, visit our booking page to schedule a consultation – or use the … Read more

Notes from a Plaintiff’s Attorney: Avoiding Liability in “Casual Care”

August 15, 2024July 1, 2020 by Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD

By Dr. JD, a plaintiff’s attorney, practicing in the Northeast

We continue our series of articles penned by one attorney, an MD, JD, giving you a view of the world through a malpractice plaintiff attorney’s eyes. This attorney is a seasoned veteran. The series includes a number of pearls on how to stay out of harm’s way. While I do not necessarily agree with 100% of the details of every article, I think the messages are salient, on target, and fully relevant. Please give us your feedback – and let us know if you find the series helpful.

You are relaxing at your town’s July 4^th barbecue, waiting for the fireworks. As you doze in your lawn chair, your neighbor taps you on the shoulder. “Doc, can I show you a spot on my arm that’s got me a little worried?” he asks.

You are at the PTA bake sale. The class dad next to you leans over and whispers, “Can I ask a favor? I was laid off and I can’t afford to go to the doctor just to get my Nexium prescription renewed. I feel like there’s lump in my stomach with all this stress. Could you just write me a prescription to tide me over?”

You are at your family reunion. Your cousin pulls you aside and takes out a copy of her lab report from an executive health service. She points to where elevated liver enzymes have been flagged. “What does this mean?” she asks.

You have been asked to offer a diagnosis, to prescribe and to evaluate clinical findings, all by people who are not your patients but are connected to you as friend or family, a setting usually referred to as “casual care”.

What do you do?

Personality Profile and Specialty Choice

August 15, 2024June 12, 2020 by Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD

I’ve often wondered whether medical students are attracted to a particular specialty because of their personality type; or whether their personality adjusts and evolves based on their specialty choice. The answer is it’s probably a bit of both. One academic medical school website delved a little deeper into the question. They noted that surgeons, for … Read more

Direct Primary Care and Dr. Josh Umbehr – Making Primary Care Cool Again with Atlas MD

August 15, 2024July 25, 2019 by Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD

Dr. Josh Umbehr is a leader in the DPC (Direct Primary Care) movement. Briefly defined – it is prepaid primary care. And it is revolutionizing primary care across the country. On this episode of the Medical Liability Minute, Dr. Umbehr and Dr. Segal discuss the potential of direct primary care, the origins of Dr. Umbehr’s … Read more

Florida Takes a Step Backward

August 15, 2024June 26, 2017 by Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD

Let’s go down memory lane. As the new millennium dawned, Dade and Broward Counties were in the midst of a professional liability crisis. Insurance was not only unavailable. It was unaffordable. Neurosurgeons were being asked to pay $250k/yr in coverage. Many policies topped out at $250k in benefits. But, hell, they’d cover you for up … Read more

Upside-Down World – A Patient Sues You to Keep Taking Care of Them

August 15, 2024May 31, 2017 by Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD

Normally, when a patient sues a doctor, he is unhappy with the care. He wants money for damages the doctor allegedly caused. Most rational people do not continue to see the same doctor if they believe that doctor negligently harmed them As Einstein once said: The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over … Read more

Those Damn Jackson-Pratt Drains

August 15, 2024June 10, 2016 by Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD

As Shakespeare once posited: “To drain or not to drain. That is this the question.” Perhaps it wasn’t him. Surgeon preference typically dictates whether a drain makes sense. Keeping a hematoma from forming means avoiding one additional nidus of infection. But, a drain (even a closed drain), can also serve as a nidus of infection. … Read more

Plastic Surgeons as Psychiatrists.

August 15, 2024June 3, 2016 by Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD

Many years ago, a mentor taught me a surgeon spends an entire residency learning how to operate. Then the surgeon spends the rest of one’s career learning how NOT to operate. This includes when not to operate. A plastic surgeon called me recently, and described a recent patient visit. The woman, in her mid-40’s, confessed … Read more

Simple Procedures: An Occasional Multi-Million Dollar Lawsuit

August 15, 2024May 13, 2016 by Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD

We often worry about complications from difficult procedures. What might happen if a patient has anesthesia for 12 hours. Or, operating on a redo-redo cervical spine. And we’re right to be cautious.

But, even simple things can be fraught with hazards; hazards that are easily prevented.

Credentialing and Answering Touchy Questions

August 15, 2024May 6, 2016 by Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD

I received a call from a general surgeon in California. He was re-credentialing for hospital privileges. He was re-credentialing for his in-network status with insurance companies. And, renewing his medical license was around the corner.

Credentialing questions have gotten longer and more detailed.

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