Frivolous Medical Malpractice Lawsuits

Frivolous, meritless medical malpractice lawsuits are an occupational hazard for physicians. Stepping out of the crosshairs of a hungry plaintiff’s attorney is difficult. But with proper counsel, doctors can prevail—and, when warranted, even file counterclaims. This article will provide a broad overview of defensive measures, as well as a few real-world vignettes. Our goal? Protect you.

What is a frivolous lawsuit?

Frivolous lawsuits are legal claims that lack merit and are often filed by patients to harass or intimidate doctors on incorrect assumptions or false accusations that wrongly implicate doctors in malpractice or misconduct. These lawsuits can be costly and time-consuming, even when they have little chance of success.

Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD
Chief Executive Officer & Founder

Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD is a board-certified neurosurgeon and lawyer. In the process of conceiving, funding, developing, and growing Medical Justice, Dr. Segal has established himself as one of the country’s leading authorities on medical malpractice issues, counterclaims, and internet-based assaults on reputation.

Meet our medico-legal experts

Subscribe to Dr. Segal’s weekly newsletter »

How to Proactively Deter Frivolous Medical Malpractice Lawsuits

It is critical doctors familiarize themselves with the doctor-patient conflict taxonomy that propels frivolous litigation. Knowing how to de-escalate a problem-patient conflict early frequently neutralizes the risk you’ll get sued in the first place.

Medical malpractice lawsuits – where do they come from? Patients, mostly. Specifically angry patients or their families. Reduce your risk of receiving a frivolous medical malpractice lawsuit by identifying these individuals early. Instruct your staff to log negative (and positive) interactions with your patients. Triage by perceived hostility. If a patient is harassing your staff or regularly complaining about the cost of their care, be wary. Also, patients who believe (accurately or inaccurately) that they’ve experienced bad outcomes should be considered high-risk. To patients, outcomes are “in the eye of the beholder.”

Here’s a list of red flags doctors must keep in mind:

Patient is combative; frequently argues with staff over small amounts of money/office wait times
Patient acts as if they are entitled
Patient refers to previous doctors as “butchers” and “hacks.” The patient may flatter you, insisting that they’ve heard great things about you. “You’re not like those other guys!” Don’t swallow the bait. You will frequently become the next “butcher”
Patient does not commit to necessary follow-up diagnostics or treatment; this kind of patient can fly off the handle when their negligence contributes to a complication (such as an infection)
Patient enters care with unrealistic expectations; believes the doctor has the power to work miracles; believes treatment will save their marriage, advance their career, etc.
Patient fails to pay his bill on time and is unwilling to commit to your payment plan or ANY payment plan

In some cases, the best course of action is to formally dismiss the patient and transfer ownership of the patient’s care to a different doctor. If the magic is gone, there’s no reason for either the doctor or the patient to feel like cellmates.

But the transfer of care must be done carefully. Improperly terminating the doctor-patient relationship can propel abandonment charges. The solution? Consult qualified counsel BEFORE dismissing any patient. Medical Justice has authored countless dismissal letters. Our templates protect you.

How to Write a Patient Dismissal Letter

Our Guide to Dealing with Difficult Patients

A patient with a problem frequently telegraphs his desired “solution.” Most want cash: “Give me a refund.” An important note: If the patient threatens to slam you online if you don’t tender a refund, this is extortion. Patients who want to hit below the belt may allude to a forthcoming Board/licensing complaint. These are common hazards we help doctors navigate on a weekly basis. If the patient has sent you (or your staff) a threatening message (electronic or otherwise), archive it. Such messages can be used to prove the patient is guilty of attempting to extort your practice.

Returning to our main point – if the patient has turned himself into a hazard, you may feel tempted to just write him a check and call it a day. This is a terrible idea. Providing a patient with a refund is sometimes the solution – but the refund must be transactional. Without installing the proper legal documentation, nothing prevents the patient from cashing your check and coming back for seconds. It’s like feeding a stray cat.

Here’s one potential solution. In exchange for a modest refund, the patient signs a contract stating he won’t sue the doctor down the road. In the event the patient sues anyway, this contract ensures countermeasures are already in place for dismissal. Frequently, this is more than enough to deter frivolous medical malpractice lawsuits.

Plaintiff’s attorneys (and the patients who retain them) are attracted to soft targets. If they believe a practice is going to make them work for their meal, they’ll target someone else.

Why should I seek help from Medical Justice?

If you are living on the receiving end of a frivolous medical malpractice lawsuit, seek help. These conflicts are varied (refund demands, missed expectations, surprise costs, complications) and not always predictable. Doctors can react appropriately to the unpredictable by retaining access to qualified legal counsel – and by qualified counsel, we mean someone who understands viscerally the practice of medicine and the laws that govern how medicine is practiced in the United States.

We understand the indignity of being sued by a patient. Our Founder and CEO, Dr. Jeff Segal, has been in your shoes. He practiced neurosurgery for a decade and was served a frivolous medical malpractice lawsuit. Dr. Segal defended himself successfully and the frivolous case was dismissed. But Dr. Segal didn’t feel like he had won. He just felt like he had just lost less. So, he created Medical Justice and then got a law degree.

We exist to protect doctors from medico-legal threats – including frivolous medical malpractice lawsuits. We’ve been at it for 20+ years and have worked with 12,000+ doctors.

We are a known entity among plaintiff’s attorneys – which is why so few attorneys forge ahead with non-meritorious claims when they realize the doctors they are suing are under our protection. If you’ve been sued (or believe you are at risk), solutions exist.

Our Services

Protection Plans for Doctors

Become a member to receive ongoing support and protection from our experts

Online Reputation Management for Doctors

Automate a review collection & posting workflow to shield your online reputation

How Medical Justice Takes Action Against Meritless Lawsuits

Medical Justice helps protect our doctors by:

Swiftly identifying frivolous lawsuits
Implementing strategies to dismiss them early in the process
Working to recover costs incurred in defending against baseless claims
Gathering evidence
Employing expert testimony
Leveraging expertise to refute wrongful claims and uphold your professional reputation
Providing robust strategies to challenge and promptly dismiss non-meritous lawsuits promptly, ensuring minimal disruption to your practice

Problems We Solve

Frivolous lawsuits

Doctor-patient conflicts

Patients threatening extortion

Hospital privileging challenges

Unwarranted demands for refunds

NPDB reports

Sham peer review

Medical board complaints

Notice of intent to sue

Defamatory online reviews

Protection Plans

Online Reputation Management

The “Life Cycle” of a Frivolous Medical Malpractice Lawsuit as a Medical Justice Member

The first step is almost always an unhappy patient. This patient yells at the doctor, posts defamatory reviews online, or threatens to file a Board/license complaint. Frequently, the patient will do all three. The patient is not litigious (yet), but the threat of litigation is real. We’ve dubbed this preemptive phase “the rumbling.” The clouds are gathering, and you can hear the thunder rolling in the distance. Afterward, the patient will attempt to retain an attorney. The attorney will evaluate the patient’s claim and likely propel the lawsuit if the attorney thinks the patient has a chance. In order to proceed, the attorney must request access to the patient’s medical records.

It is for this reason we tell our member doctors to call us if they ever receive a request for records, it sometimes signals a lawsuit is forthcoming. At this point, Medical Justice sends the plaintiff’s attorney our “member letter.”

The Member Letter

The purpose of the letter is to inform the attorney the doctor is a member of Medical Justice. Two realities are made clear:

If the plaintiff incorporates an expert witness into his testimony, this witness must be Board certified and properly qualified; this reduces the chances the member doctor will be subject to the “expert testimony” of a traveling gun; a doctor who makes a living traveling the court circuit and testifying against colleagues.
The letter informs the plaintiff’s attorney that the defendant has at his disposal up to $100,000 to file countersuits/counterclaims in the event the lawsuit is ultimately deemed frivolous.

The letter does not take away the patient’s right to sue. It does, however, make it clear to the patient (and attorney) that propelling meritless litigation may have consequences. If a lawsuit is filed anyway, the doctor will receive a demand letter from the patient and his attorney. We are no longer in “the rumbling,” this is now a pre-lawsuit.

The Demand Letter

The purpose of the patient’s demand letter is to coax the doctor into paying out. Every demand letter is different, but they all follow the same theme: If the doctor does not meet the patient’s demands, a lawsuit will follow.

In the event the doctor is served, the next step is deposition.

Deposition

Medical Justice is equipped to train doctors prior to their deposition, increasing the likelihood they’ll perform well. This increases the chances they’ll ultimately experience a positive outcome. We also can help locate qualified expert witnesses – not a trivial task. These experts must know the medicine and communicate well with a jury. This ensures that the deposed doctor receives a fair shake if tried.

We help our member doctors navigate a medical malpractice lawsuit strategically. There are even strategies doctors can employ to reduce the risk they’ll be reported to the Data Bank in the event of a settlement.

When a patient presents to you with a problem, you diagnose. You ultimately advise them all to do the same thing: Seek help. Sometimes you are that help. Sometimes you refer them to a qualified colleague and that colleague becomes the help. The process of addressing a medico-legal “illness” is no different.

Read More from Jeff Segal, MD, JD

Countersuits and counterclaims against meritless lawsuits? Yes, it can be done.

Dealing with a frivolous lawsuit can be stressful, but you have options to defend your reputation and hold “perpetrators” accountable. Join Medical Justice to access resources and benefits aimed at protecting your practice.

If you need personalized guidance on considering countersuits and navigating through legal challenges, please note that these consultation topics may fall outside the scope of the Medical Justice membership benefits, and thus may be subject to an hourly fee. Schedule a consultation with our team of experts to explore your options further.