As a medical professional, you dedicate your life to caring for patients, often under intense pressure and scrutiny. Unfortunately, this commitment can sometimes make you a target by unscrupulous individuals who use demand letters, extortion, and legal intimidation to threaten your livelihood and reputation.
Legal Intimidation
Legal intimidation is when a patient—or their family—uses legal threats or actions to coerce or manipulate you into doing something against your will. These threats often come in the form of demand letters from lawyers, suggesting dire consequences if you do not comply with their demands. While this is America, and anyone can file a lawsuit for almost any reason, extreme tactics are unethical and can border on extortion.
Demand Letters: The First Sign of Trouble
A demand letter is often the first indication that someone is attempting to intimidate you legally. These letters may allege various wrongdoings and threaten lawsuits or other legal actions unless you meet specific demands, such as paying a large sum of money, granting a refund, or performing a service you previously denied a patient. Demand letters can be legitimate tools in legal disputes and be used as tools of extortion to create fear and force you into hasty decisions.
Can a lawyer threaten a board complaint if you don’t write a check?
No. A lawyer may threaten to sue you for money, but they cannot leverage a complaint to the Board to settle a civil dispute. In other words, they cannot say, “If you pay us, we will not complain to the Board of Medicine.” The Board’s mission is to protect the public. It is not there to serve as a chess piece to allow a plaintiff and his attorney to profit.
If a lawyer makes such a threat—either to file a Board complaint or slam you online if you don’t pay up—arguably that meets the legal definition for extortion, which is a criminal offense. Further, the Bar may take action based on violation of Code of Professional Responsibility. So, while lawyers can and do play hardball, some threats are forbidden. If they make such threats, the ball game changes.
Medical Justice provides solutions for numerous medicolegal issues—including counterclaims.
In this video, our Founder & CEO Dr. Jeff Segal shares how Medical Justice can help you navigate the minefield of potential extortion situations unscathed.
Patients Threatening Extortion
In some cases, patients may threaten legal action or public defamation unless their demands—often unreasonable or unrelated to their care—are met.
Extortion: Recognizing the Signs
Extortion is when a person coerces someone to give up money, property, or rights by threatening harm or legal consequences. In the medical field, this could mean threatening to expose alleged malpractice to the media, report you to medical boards, or damage your public professional reputation unless you comply with their demands.
Recognizing the signs of extortion is crucial to protecting your practice and ensuring that you are not unfairly manipulated. Medical Justice assists doctors in handling such extortion threats legally and ethically so that your rights are protected and you remain in compliance with healthcare laws and ethical standards.
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.
How Medical Justice Can Help
We specialize in protecting physicians from these forms of intimidation and threats. Here’s how we can help:
- Evaluate Demand Letters: We review any demand letters you receive to determine their legitimacy and help you think through your options.
- Counter Extortion Tactics: Our experts will help you recognize extortion attempts and provide strategies to effectively counteract these threats.
- Medico-Legal Support: We offer medico-legal support to help protect your position.
- Peace of Mind: Partnering with Medical Justice allows you to focus on what you do best—caring for your patients—without the constant worry of medico-legal threats looming over your practice.
Contact Medical Justice today to learn more about how we can protect you so your career remains focused on patient care, not legal battles.
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