It was Bishop Berkeley who asked rhetorically, “If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound?” The judge in Pediatric Nephrology Assocs. v. Variety Children’s Hospital didn’t mention either the Bishop or the tree, but he used the same approach to dispose of a case brought by a …
The Case of the Bashful Whistleblower
November 16, 2017 Leave a Comment
William Nash filed a whistleblower case against his former employer but wanted to remain anonymous so that his new employer wouldn’t know that he is—you guessed it--a whistleblower. William’s qui tam action alleged Medicaid fraud by his former employer. When the government declined to intervene, William …
Kentucky Physicians in the Headlines
November 14, 2017 Leave a Comment
Can any state rival Kentucky for keeping physicians in the headlines in recent days? Three big stories in a five-day span: On October 30 the Franklin Circuit Court struck down as unconstitutional a new Kentucky statute establishing medical review panels to screen medical malpractice cases before they go to …
Shakespeare on Medical Staff Credentialing
November 8, 2017 Leave a Comment
Who says a background in English literature has no practical value? Certainly not the attorneys defending Dimensions Health in a class action filed on behalf of patients treated by an OB/GYN on the Dimensions medical staff. Their Memorandum in Support of Motion to Dismiss prominently invokes one of the Bard’s …
The High Price of Frivolous Filings
October 26, 2017 Leave a Comment
If the facts recited by a federal court in its 148-page order are correct, two Florida plaintiffs’ law firms have given new meaning to the term frivolous filing. As a consequence of the filings, the court imposed sanctions of $9.1 M, in addition to a public reprimand and an ethics referral to the Florida …
Insurer Liable Though Physician Skips Med Mal Trial
October 24, 2017 Leave a Comment
Lancet Indemnity’s $1 M med mal policy had a standard clause requiring the insured, Dr. Ishtiaq Malik, to cooperate and assist Lancet and appointed counsel in investigating and defending claims. But when the family of decedent Juan Castillo sued him for malpractice, Malik could not have been less cooperative or …