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.
Michael J. Sacopulos, Esq.
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court of Texas ruled that the medical malpractice statutes of the state cover a patient’s death from a spider bite. Classie Reed was a patient at the Omaha Health Care Center when she was bitten by a brown recluse spider. The spider bite ultimately resulted in Ms. Reed’s death. At issue is whether the claim was one that resided in medical malpractice or in ordinary negligence.
Michael J. Sacopulos, Esq.
Westlaw Journal recently reported that a judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a Duluth neurologist who claimed he was defamed by a patient’s son that criticized his bedside manner.
Dr. David McKee alleged in his lawsuit that Dennis Laurion of Duluth made false statements about McKee’s treatment of Laurion’s father to the American Academy of Neurology, St. Luke’s Hospital, colleagues and several internet websites that “solicit physician reviews and ratings.” Laurion alleged McKee failed to treat his father with dignity following a stroke. Further, Laurion posted that McKee treated his father as a “task and charting assignment.”
Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons Volume 16, Number 2, Summer 2011 By: Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD, and Michael Sacopulos, JD Download legal_consequences_of_physician_employment
Florida Medical Magazine 2011, Summer By: Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD, FACS, et al.and Michael Sacopulos, JD Last week, I received a Groupon alert for a local restaurant I like. For those of you living under a rock, Groupon is a social networking group discount program. Here’s how it works. A local merchant, like a restaurant … Read more
Jeff Segal, MD, JD, FACS
Some phenomena oscillate in cycles – the economy, hem lengths, the political party in office. And attacks on hard-fought tort reforms.
Last year, Georgia and Illinois saw their caps on pain and suffering ruled unconstitutional. Caps help keep professional liability premiums within “more” reasonable ranges. Once premiums start rising, doctors head for the borders.
The field is busy this year with pending attacks on constitutionality (and other legal foundations) in a number of other states. As reported in AmedNews, the lineup is a follows.
Michael J. Sacopulos, Esq.
A survey by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers published through Loyola Medical School found that “Facebook holds the distinction of being the unrivaled leader for online divorce evidence with 66% citing it as the primary source.” Also, more than 80 percent of divorce lawyers reported they “have seen an increase in the number of cases using social networking evidence” during the past few years. This is mounting evidence which proves the power social media has on litigation.
Michael J. Sacopulos, Esq.
Social media appears to have had an impact on jury selection in the murder trial of Casey Anthony, 25, charged with killing her two-year-old daughter Caylee, in 2008.
According to the Associated Press, as prospective jurors answered questions about their background and qualifications to serve, lawyers instantly checked their responses against postings on online media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
Michael J. Sacopulos, Esq.
On May 4, 2011, the United States District Court in Kansas allowed a plaintiff to insert an administrative negligence claim against a hospital administrator. The claim arises out of alleged permanent injuries to the newborn child of Sandra and Edwin Deya. The Deyas claim that a hospital administrator failed to create, develop, and refine policies and protocols for newborn care at Hiawatha Community Hospital. The Deyas went on to argue that the absence of appropriate policies and protocols contributed to the injuries suffered by their newborn child.
Hiawatha Community Hospital moved to dismiss this claim based on the fact that there was no physician patient relationship between the hospital administrator, Dr. Rosa, and the Deyas’ child. The defense cited the Kansas Supreme Court’s position that absent a physician patient relationship there can be no liability for medical malpractice.
Medical Justice is sensitive to the fact there are legitimate claims by patients who have been harmed by negligent care. But the fact remains that the majority of medical malpractice cases are ultimately deemed without merit. We harness the principles of medicine, law, and business to defeat dishonest plaintiffs, unethical medical malpractice attorneys, and unscrupulous expert witnesses.
Medical Justice Members are licensed to use Medical Justice’s intellectual property; deterring meritless legal actions, creating a critical practice infrastructure to strengthen the future use of legal remedies should a frivolous suit be pursued.
Michael J. Sacopulos, Esq.
A federal jury on Thursday awarded 67-year old Douglas Ray Jr. of Fredericksburg, VA a $212 million verdict. This award included $200 million in punitive damages against Allergan. Ray Jr. claimed injections of the wrinkle-smoothing drug Botox to treat hand tremors and writer’s cramp left him brain-damaged and disabled.
Douglas’s wife said that her husband of 43 years requires around-the-clock care. She has in-home nursing help four hours a day, four days a week. Douglas’s wife also said she is grateful for doctors who testified for her husband.
A company spokesperson for Allergan who manufactured the Botox said the verdict “is inconsistent with the credible scientific and medical evidence supporting the efficacy and safety of Botox,” which she said has been used for two decades to treat 21 separate medical conditions.
