$26 million malpractice award against resident

[freelancewriter]

$26 million ($17.4 million, plus about $9 million in interest) was awarded in a malpractice case in/near Milwaukee. $3.1 million of that total is for medical expenses.

This happened in Wisconsin, one of only six states listed as currently okay by the AMA in reference to medical liability. Wisconsin is progressive with tort reform, and has malpractice caps in place for pain and suffering. To any states considering malpractice caps, take note of this case. A lawyer managed to find a loophole in Wisconsin state law.

A quote: "...malpractice awards adopted in mid-1990s tort reforms that cap intangible "pain and suffering" losses at less than $500,000. But a state appeals court has held that the cap applies only to fully licensed doctors; Beauchaine [the defendant] was a resident in training at the time."

The Wisconsin Supreme Court is already examining this loophole in another case. Their decision is pending.

If you read the article, you'll note that licensed physicians were dismissed from the suit. Perhaps the plaintiff's lawyer decided it wasn't worth fighting an army of defense attorneys when the big bucks were with the resident.

My heart goes out to the young woman who lost her life - it was a tragedy. But I have to wonder how a malpractice award of this size benefits the future health of others.

Here's the links:

Payout in death may be state's biggest
http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/oct04/269177.asp

Family awarded $17.4 million
http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/oct04/268681.asp

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[freelancewriter]

There is an important detail missing from this story. Part of the reason for Wisconsin's "currently okay" status re: medical liability from the AMA is that Wisconsin set up a patient compensation fund in the 1970s.

http://oci.wi.gov/pcf.htm

As it reads now, a malpractice insurance company is only responsible for the first $1 million, and anything beyond that comes out of the fund. The article doesn't mention the patient compensation fund at all. It sounds like another (unwritten) story is in that detail - perhaps the medical institution was not a member of (i.e. did not pay into) the fund.

I can't help but think that the jury would be less willing to pull money out of a state fund than from an insurance company

 

[LADoc00]

Against a resident??? Are you serious? Thats a total career ender. OMG. The heart break.

 

[freelancewriter]

The person was a resident at the time of the incident, but is now a licensed physician in another state (Idaho). I don't know if it would impact licensure, but imagine the jump in malpractice premiums. Maybe that is the career ender...

 

[deltamed]

Against a resident??? Are you serious? Thats a total career ender. OMG. The heart break.

That case is just SICK. So the lawyer gets to take home a good 10 mill or so? How was that mistake gross negligence? Juries are so dumb, I can't stand it.

 

[Mirror Form]

That case is just SICK. So the lawyer gets to take home a good 10 mill or so? How was that mistake gross negligence? Juries are so dumb, I can't stand it.

Sounds like that lawyer could be running for VP soon.

 

[edmadison]

That case is just SICK. So the lawyer gets to take home a good 10 mill or so? How was that mistake gross negligence? Juries are so dumb, I can't stand it.

The lawyer won't get much at all. Assuming the verdict is upheld on appeal, the doc will just file chapter 7. Poof. Goodbye contingency fee

Ed

 

[yaah]

This quote from one of the articles is all you need to know about the real truth behind this case.

------------------------------------------------
Banks, however, said the plaintiffs were most interested in Beauchaine.

"They settled out," he said of the others. "She was left in because potentially her damages were uncapped."
---------------------------------------------------

Clearly it's all about "Pain and suffering" and making sure that doctors don't make more mistakes. If it wasn't, they wouldn't have eliminated the other docs from the lawsuit.

 

[misfit]

As it reads now, a malpractice insurance company is only responsible for the first $1 million, and anything beyond that comes out of the fund. The article doesn't mention the patient compensation fund at all. It sounds like another (unwritten) story is in that detail - perhaps the medical institution was not a member of (i.e. did not pay into) the fund.


Freelancewriter,

I am a 4th yr. med student at MCW, the med school that includes Children's Hospital of Wisconsin as one of its teaching hospitals.

This hospital's practitioners are contributors to the Wisconsin state patient compensation fund.

So, what is really going on here is the plaintiff's lawyers tried to find a loophole to score big damages. They thought they could do it by going after a resident. Bunch of twisted f*ckers!

I have a feeling this so-called loophole will be closed up by the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Still, the former resident's career is already nicely damaged.

As for the dead teenager, I find it hard to understand how her volvulus (twisting of the intestines on their mesentary, choking off blood supply) was not diagnosed upon presentation (probably in the Children's ER). But, I was not there.

Also, is it possible to really say that misdiagnosis killed her? She may have been handicapped by it. What do others think of this?

misfit

 

[Sheon]

So what exactly do you think the outcome should have been?

 

[misfit]

Sorry, sheon, could you clarify "outcome" for me?

If you mean medical outcome for the patient's late-diagnosed volvulus, I do not know.

As for the lawsuit, the outcome may have been a just one in finding fault for the late diagnosis. HOWEVER, to dismiss the attending physicians involved is ridiculous if you want to place blame. It should have been spread among the attendings and NOT just the resident alone.

Again, I feel the trial lawyers began to salivate at the thought of finding a loophole around the malpractice caps. That, I feel, is incredibly UNJUST.

misfit

 

[radha2004]

First they went out to get the surgeons, then the OBGYNs, then the internists, now residents. whats next? Medical students???

 

[southerndoc]

First they went out to get the surgeons, then the OBGYNs, then the internists, now residents. whats next? Medical students???

Yes!

 

[Idiopathic]

Tell me, in an unbiased fashion, what should be the damages, if any for this:

"She died in 1998 after two years of medical treatment and 89 operations that followed a 1996 trip to Children's Hospital of Wisconsin in Wauwatosa, during which Beauchaine and several other doctors failed to properly diagnose a twisted small intestine and did not get the girl into surgery until 6 a.m. the following day. Her small intestine died due to blood loss and had to be removed, and the ensuing complications eventually killed her."

Im not saying that the resident should be to blame, but dont fault anyone for taking advantage of the system in place. Hopefully, this will close the loophole. But, honestly, 26 mil seems a little small...

 

[delchrys]

i just ran across this (don't ask how i got there, lol)...

it's a study on deaths nationwide due to preventable errors in hospitals. the numbers are insane.

still, the story in this thread makes me want to puke...no wonder your kind (docs) hate my kind (lawyers)...

http://www.healthgrades.com/media/english/pdf/HG_Patient_Safety_Study_Final.pdf

 

[carrigallen]

I agree that preventable medical errors are a shameful problem in this country. I read that enough patients die each day to preventable errors to fill a Boeing 747 jet.

I think it is a big problem, and doctors a responsible party. At the same time, there may also be other responsibile parties; such as the hospital infrastructure.

 

[kchan99]

I just wonder if the former resident in this case would have a breach of contract or breach of fiduciary (trusted) responsibility claim against the hospital because she was supposed to be under supervision.

I'm not an attorney...

 

[freelancewriter]

I just wonder if the former resident in this case would have a breach of contract or breach of fiduciary (trusted) responsibility claim against the hospital because she was supposed to be under supervision.

I'm not an attorney...

I'm not an attorney either, but it makes me wonder if that widens the loophole (in the intent of the law/fund). If the hospital in question was, indeed, paying into the Wiscosin Patient Compensation Fund, their liability (per physician?) is $1 million if they are self insured, nothing if the physicians carry the malpractice insurance. But if the former resident sues the hospital, that could be significantly more. Hmm...

 

[delchrys]

i suppose anyone could sue anyone, but when a doc turns around and starts planning their litigious orgy of profit or revenge, they lose all sympathy for being "victims" of med mal suits, and they transform into hypocrites.

also, it would depend on the role the resident played in the situation and what the state laws said about duty between resident and patient and hospital and resident.

 

[Leukocyte]

How can a resident be responsible for 75% of anything? I thought that the attendings were responsible for 100% of everything?

Could she have forgotten to discuss that patient with her attending?

 

[MechE]

First they went out to get the surgeons, then the OBGYNs, then the internists, now residents. whats next? Medical students???

After the medical students, then the pre-med students who volunteer in the hospital.