Can you prescribe for family? What happens if a payer demands a refund three years later? Our Legal Blogs tackle routine yet critical issues—self-prescribing, contract renewals, sham peer review defenses, and medical record ownership—using real complaints, board orders, and court opinions as teaching tools.
When an appellate court clarifies peer-review immunity or a state supreme court limits punitive damages, we translate the opinion into practical next steps: adjust bylaws language, revisit informed-consent language, or refine incident-reporting practices. Posts avoid dense legalese and focus on how rulings might influence documentation, credentialing, and professional liability.
From negotiating call-coverage stipends to spotting restrictive non-compete clauses, articles guide physicians through employment and partnership contracts. We also examine corporate-practice-of-medicine rules, covering management-service agreements, fee-splitting prohibitions, and telemedicine ownership structures.
The blog discusses board investigations stemming from social-media missteps, substance-use allegations, and documentation irregularities. We help physicians respond promptly, assemble supportive records, and protect due-process rights.
Expect discussions of Stark, Anti-Kickback Statute safe harbors, Medicare enrollment revocations, and false-claims liability—presented with examples relevant to office-based specialists and hospital-employed physicians alike.
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
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
The Challenge: An unhappy ex-patient (who happens to be an attorney) threatened legal action against a surgeon. This ex-patient attempted to coerce other patients into posting inciting reviews on Yelp. The review not only promised legal action but solicited others to participate. The Remedy: Due to the advanced age of the content, eMerit communication specialists … Read more
The Challenge: Ever see those employment listings for an entry-level position that requires “2 years of experience?” How can you get a job that requires experience when you don’t have any? What about qualifying for a home or auto loan with little to no credit history? Building a reputation from the ground up can be … Read more
The Challenge: A client (an OBGYN) recently married and published photographs of the event on Facebook. In the months following the publication of these photographs, an image of the event was used in a blog without the client’s permission. The story, published by GeekyCamel.com, focuses on a feud that erupted between a bride and her … Read more
The Challenge: A client (an aesthetic surgeon) received a negative review from a “person” calling herself “Natalie Guzman.” Guzman accused our client of charging an unreasonable amount of money for a facelift. The negative review was published on our client’s Google business listing. Our client produced evidence “Natalie Guzman” was not her patient. The Remedy: … Read more
A 30-gauge needle pierced a patient’s eyeball during an elective procedure. The doctor advised the patient all was well and sent her home. She returned a short time later with rapidly deteriorating vision. She was ultimately rendered blind in that eye. Was the surgeon at fault? Or was his scrub tech to blame? It’s a … Read more
Dear readers, based on your long experience with health insurance carriers, what is the likely answer to these questions? Insurance carriers generally prod doctors to do more tests or fewer tests? Would a carrier ever “discipline” a doctor for exercising his reasonable judgment to limit the number of tests before his patient is discharged? Assuming … Read more
