When I was first named in a medical malpractice lawsuit, I was working solo nights in a community emergency department. I was five years out of residency, just hitting my stride as an ever more competent and confident physician. One summer night in 2006, I cared for a young woman with a complex and confusing presentation. I was attentive, thoughtful, and thorough. But the simple act of picking up that chart set in motion a painful journey through the medical malpractice litigation machine that would span 12 years, two jury trials, and more sleepless nights than I can count.
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ACEP Now: Vol 38 – No 08 – August 2019I remember with crystal clarity the moment I was given notice of the suit. In that instant, my whole carefully constructed professional persona was smashed—not only by the knowledge that I had been named as the sole physician defendant in what would become a very high-stakes lawsuit but also with guilt over my patient’s outcome, fear that I actually was the incompetent physician the legal complaint described so vividly, and an overwhelming sense of shame and isolation.
Nothing in my training had prepared me for this. We’d had some lectures on defensive charting and risk management (as if risk can be truly “managed” in emergency medicine) but not one word about what happened after you were actually named. What then? I was a pariah; obviously we weren’t taught about this because it simply didn’t happen to good doctors who followed the risk management golden rules, the thinking went. I had no idea whom to turn to or even what the next step was in the legal process, but I didn’t want to talk to anyone around me. My personal shame kept me from reaching out to other physicians who might have been able to help (had I even known who they were), and I simply had never heard of any relevant resources to consult.
Experience makes a fine teacher, and what I now understand is that litigation happens to the majority of emergency physicians over the course of their career. Education about the process and its emotional impact should be included in our training. If knowledge and simulation are keys to mastering complex and terrifying procedures, litigation is no different. We have a burnout and suicide problem in medicine, as we are slowly starting to acknowledge; litigation stress, while not the only cause, plays a front-and-center role in it.1,2
Over the past two years, I have been collecting interviews with physicians who have been though the litigation process as well as psychologists, lawyers, and other published experts on medical malpractice litigation. Recently, I have started to assemble these into a series of free podcasts, entitled “Doctors and Litigation: The L Word.” My hope is to educate physicians on the “what happens next” of being sued and also to destigmatize the process itself, shining a light on litigation stress and “malpractice stress syndrome.”
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4 Responses to “I’ve Been Sued for Medical Malpractice—Now What?”
August 25, 2019
Thomas Petinga DODear Dr Pensa I applaud your endeavor and initiative on this crucial topic. My experience,(some 45 + years ED med) can attest that your composition is indeed an accurate overview of the real impact to those who undergo or are involved in such a real life professional event. It can leave one demoralized, drained, uncertain and devoid of later enthusiasm for the field they have chosen. Having good competent supportive counsel, knowledge of process, the how to of the deposition process and how to proceed and feel confident in the arena is essential . As a career professional educator and practitioner of Emergency Medicine since the relative beginning I’ve have had to be the defandant ,review and defend many others and by circumstances, and many factors Very successful in defense. The endeavor and the road your on can be extremely helpfull valuable and a resource to “survive and perhaps thrive.”.to all those who are engaged in the delivery of EM and other clinical specialists.
August 25, 2019
John MigliaccioI need some advice about how to overcome 5 years past lawsuits preventing me from been considered for ED employment..
August 25, 2019
Russ McuneAn outstanding topic to explore. Thank you for taking your rough experience and helping us learn from it.
December 21, 2019
Louise B Andrew MD JD FIFEMI have reviewed this entire blog series up to the present, and am compelled to state that it is FIRST RATE. Not only did Gita compile an incredible number of uniquely qualified experts to provide didactic content, she also seamlessly weaves in her own harrowing story, and manages to tell it without a hint of rancor. The series is so professionally mixed and presented, you may think you are listening to NPR.
I hope that any ACEP member (or any physician) who is newly sued will become aware of this series, and further would encourage them to listen to it in its entirety. Not only will doing so provide a roadmap to navigating the process (especially in conjunction with Ilene Brenner’s book), but it will also reveal a beacon of hope that “this too, SHALL PASS!”
Thank you, Gita, for providing this invaluable resource; and for doing so on your own time and at your own expense without any organizational sponsorship whatsoever.