Do Qualified Protective Orders Maintain the Privacy of PHI Related to the Claim?

I advise my clients that the pursuit of a medical malpractice claim involves waiving the privacy and confidentiality of the medical issues related to the claim. I think that is customary advice in the legal community. Trying to parse out what may remain confidential, whether you have a “qualified protective order” or not, is an […]

Peer Review Privilege is Boken: we’re going to keep chipping away state by state

#QualityFraud A Pennsylvania appellate court’s recent ruling makes clear that a hospital’s internal documents are generally considered fair game for discovery in medical malpractice suits and the onus is on health care providers to prove otherwise, experts said. Read more at: https://www.law360.com/personal-injury-medical-malpractice/articles/1723936?nl_pk=029cff45-637f-44e3-babf-75563f8e0bfd&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=personal-injury-medical-malpractice&utm_content=2023-09-21&read_main=1&nlsidx=0&nlaidx=0?copied=1

Med Mal Presuit Rules Can Be A Trap

Many states, like Florida, have presuit rules for medical malpractice cases, passed at the urging of lobbies that represent insurance companies and hospital systems. These rules differ from state to state but generally make filing suit more difficult by setting up a series of procedures your lawyer has to follow. Unsurprisingly, almost every case involves […]

Discovery of Hospital Incident Reporting and Peer Review Privilege

I have had cases like the one below with both anonymous and signed reports removed from medical charts. In one case, a doctor met me in a restaurant across the street from the hospital and delivered to me his copy of a report that had been removed from the patient’s chart. I have also been […]

A Difficult Case

I have litigated similar issues regarding the duty a hospital owes to relatives of a patient, intentional infliction of emotional distress, wrongful death, and immunity. Here is a link to the reported appeals decision in my case. These are difficult cases, trying for all involved. Press attention can help but can also add to the […]

Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain

I’ve been around the block long enough to know that in personal injury cases – particularly serious ones – there are frequently issues “behind the curtain”. The other side will often conceal these issues but they can affect everything from trial scheduling to negotiations. Sometimes, the defense counsel will be upfront but more often your […]