Re: Problem patient
From: Anna Meenan, MD (annam@uic.edu)
Mon Apr 10 19:46:22 2006
Jury comments were of course, off-the-record and after-the-fact.
--
Anna Meenan, MD
At Mon, 10 Apr 2006, doctorjoe@aol.com wrote:
>
>In that scenario, I think it would be bad lawyering on the doctor's part if he got dinged with the payment. If the jury truly states that the doctor is NOT at fault, but make him pay anyway, then the court should throw the award out as a matter of law. If not, it's something that NEEDS to be appealed. There's no substitute for good lawyering, for sure.
>
>Joe P.
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Meenan, Anna, Kevin <annam@uic.edu>
>To: Multiple recipients of list OB-GYN-L <ob-gyn-l@dns.obgyn.net>
>Sent: Mon, 10 Apr 2006 12:07:35 -0500
>Subject: Re: Problem patient
>
>It IS disgusting, Gail. And yes, this lady could sue if the sh*t hits the fan, especially if the baby survives and is severely handicapped. She will just claim that she didn't know this could happen, that no one told her. The certified letter Joe recommended will probably help, but is no guarantee of protection if the lady finds a sleazebag lawyer who thinks he can get the jury all teary-eyed with a "day in the life of this severely handicapped baby" videotape. Jury members have come right out and said that they fully believe that the doc did everything right and was not at fault, but somebody has to pay to raise this poor handicapped baby and, after all, it's not the doc paying, it's the insurance company. (Never mind that the doc and his family went through hell during the trial and for 5 or 6 years leading up to it, and that his career may be permanently in the toilet). That's just life in the good ol' USA.
>
>>Can you not just forget about her? It's her choice, she knows the >risks. If she wants to play Russian roulette with hers and her >baby's life, fine but she shouldn't drag you down with her. Here, >if she absconded, well that's her look out. We can't and won't >babysit then.
>>
>>Are you going to tell me next that she'd be able to sue you if her >baby died or her partner sue if both died? If that's the case then >it's downright disgusting. >
>>What can you do?
>>
>>Gail
