Lawsuits, malpractice, and everything else

[GonnaBeADoc2222]

Weather, cost of living, tort reform, taxes, family...

I need at least 4 of those and upstate NY has maybe 1....

Not everyone has the flexibility to move wherever

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[cyanide12345678]

Upstate NY is a nice place to live, cheap nice houses, good schools, good em market. Still high taxes though.

When I interviewed at upstate, it was 32 degrees and everyone kept talking about how warm the weather was because it wasn't 10 degrees anymore -_-

Plenty of cheap places with good schools and EM markets that aren't NY State.

 

[thegenius]

Regarding lawsuits

I just want to clarify something / ask a question.

If a doctor is subpoenaed to appear in court to testify because they were the treating physician on a case, does the attorney have to classify that doctor as a fact witness or expert witness? I'm asking because of the differences of compensation for the doctors time.

A subpoena is a subpoena, you are legally bound to appear in court no matter what. Right? Or you are at risk of being in contempt of court.

However it's generally true that one can be compensated for their time for going to court, and the amount depends if you are called as a fact witness or expert witness. (BTW, are there other classifications of witnesses besides fact and witness?)

If you are a fact witness I've read, or gathered, that the court can pay you a nominal fee for your time. However the questions can only pertain to facts about the case. e.g.
"Doctor, did you practice on April 7th, 2018?
"Doctor, did you see patient John Doe on that day in the ER?"
"Doctor, what were your physical exam findings?"
"Doctor, did you diagnose John Doe with traumatic pneumothorax and penetrating knife trauma to the chest that day?"

Those are all fact questions, and can be read off the chart.

But the moment they want your opinion or your expertise on a question, like "Doctor, what is a traumatic pneumothorax" or "Is a traumatic pneumothorax a life-threatening condition", these require advanced knowledge in the doctor's area of expertise and thusly the doctor has the right to be reasonable compensated for all the years of training to gain that knowledge. This is where doctors can charge $400-$800/hr (for example) for their time.


What does everyone do here when they get subpoenaed to go to court over a case they saw in the past? I've gotten a rash of them lately. And it's always a date about 2 weeks in the future which is highly inconvenient. Do they try to contact the lawyer asking them specifically what they want to be called for? Do you clarify the nature of the subpoena (like fact witness vs expert witness). Do they send them a fee schedule? I just created a fee schedule and sent it to the attorney.

 

[GeneralVeers]

It depends on who is calling you. If it's the defense they may want to classify you as an "expert witness" and pay you. I always tell them I will respond to a subpoena, and only answer questions based on what is written in the medical chart (as I don't recall the patient). If they want me to say anything more, then I'm an "expert witness" which will cost $1000 per hour including travel time with a 2 hour minimum.

 

[Birdstrike]

What does everyone do here when they get subpoenaed to go to court over a case they saw in the past? I've gotten a rash of them lately. And it's always a date about 2 weeks in the future which is highly inconvenient. Do they try to contact the lawyer asking them specifically what they want to be called for? Do you clarify the nature of the subpoena (like fact witness vs expert witness). Do they send them a fee schedule? I just created a fee schedule and sent it to the attorney.

When I've had these in the past I usually do exactly what you mentioned. I've called the attorney's office and asked them point blank, "Is this for me to be a fact witness or an expert witness?" Most often it'll be for an expert witness. And they'll tell you. They don't want to waste their time if you're not going to give them what they want. If they say it's for expert testimony, then yes, I respond with, "Alright, who do I send my fee schedule to?" Then I send it. I don't like doing this work, so I charge a lot. In the future, I'm probably going to turn this work down, because although I like the chart review and advising part, I don't like being in court. In that case you just tell them, you don't do expert witness work and advise them that it would be in their best interest to cancel the subpoena. Usually they will. They don't want to waste their time if you're just going to answer every question with, "I don't remember, I'll have to refer to my chart," and they read the chart back to them verbatim.

If they do demand you as a free fact witness, that's fine, your testimony is free, but they can expect you to have zero opinions on anything and zero recollection of the patient, and therefore you'll have to just read your own chart back to them verbatim.

 

[southerndoc]

I once was called as a medical witness by the defense (lawsuit against police department). During cross-examination, the plaintiff asked again about my credentials and if I was board-certified. He then said he would like to introduce me as an expert witness, which the defense didn't object to and the judge allowed. He then asked me questions of expert opinion to which I replied to every single one of them "I'm sorry, you're asking a question that is not a medical fact that I can attest to. This is an expert witness question for which I am not prepared to answer." Finally after saying that for the fifth time, he took a hint, asked for a recess, then offered me $1000/hour to testify as an expert witness for which I refused. He refused to pay me $5000/hour to do this on the spot. Plaintiff lost the case.

 

[dchristismi]

You know, as much as I like getting paid, I had a case outstanding for almost a decade... It was a horrific stranger-rape, dragged-into-the-bushes situation.

It took years for them to catch this guy, like 7 years to even get the subpoena.
Ultimately several years on, a CODIS search stumbled onto his DNA, his identity, and they were finally able to go ahead with the prosecution. I told my patient the night it happened I'd be there for her when they caught this guy, and even though it took a mistrial and a second trial, I gave the most damning expert witness testimony I could. Put the guy away for 25-to-life and I would have paid for the privilege.

But this was a violent assault. I remembered the patient vividly (and still do) and I don't want animals like that loose in my community.
(Which admittedly is a very different situation than a typical fact witness.)

 

[Birdstrike]

I once was called as a medical witness by the defense (lawsuit against police department). During cross-examination, the plaintiff asked again about my credentials and if I was board-certified. He then said he would like to introduce me as an expert witness, which the defense didn't object to and the judge allowed. He then asked me questions of expert opinion to which I replied to every single one of them "I'm sorry, you're asking a question that is not a medical fact that I can attest to. This is an expert witness question for which I am not prepared to answer." Finally after saying that for the fifth time, he took a hint, asked for a recess, then offered me $1000/hour to testify as an expert witness for which I refused. He refused to pay me $5000/hour to do this on the spot. Plaintiff lost the case.

Fabulous