Medicine on Trial

Real Malpractice Cases is a series that recounts real-life clinical situations—some of which you or physicians you know may have encountered—that resulted in lawsuits. These cases are intended to offer valuable lessons on how to prevent a lawsuit and what you might expect if you get sued. Articles are from Medicine on Trial, Second Edition , a compilation of more than 80 real-life, litigated cases and the “Case of the Month” online series. Each case study includes commentary from Gordon Ownby, General Counsel of the Cooperative of American Physicians, Inc.

LATEST FROM CAP

Strange Object Lodged in Patient's Spine, Yet Jury Clears MD A trial reveals the source of a mysterious object left in a patient.
Cooperative of American Physicians, July 12, 2021
Lawsuit: Ignored Protocol Blamed for Child's Delayed Cancer Diagnosis An x-ray was taken on a 6-year-old with leg pain, so why were the results never properly interpreted?
Cooperative of American Physicians, June 8, 2021
Lawsuit: Misplaced Test Result Leads to Unneeded Surgery Good intentions don't help if you fail to follow up and check test results.
Cooperative of American Physicians, May 10, 2021
Lawsuit: Doctor's Doubts Lead to Missed Diagnosis A mysterious illness continues to plague a patient. Could the physician have done anything to reach an earlier diagnosis?
Cooperative of American Physicians, April 1, 2021
Lawsuit: Doctor Leaked Private Information to Patient's Family Treating patients from the same family who live together can raise your risk for privacy violations.
Cooperative of American Physicians, March 8, 2021
Malpractice Case: Drug Mistakes Can Cause Serious Harm This doctor failed to check the medicine he used during a surgery, resulting in severe injury to the patient. What should he have done differently?
Cooperative of American Physicians, February 8, 2021
Malpractice Case: Could an ECG Have Saved This Woman? When it comes to symptoms of uncertain cause, it's important for physicians to use all tools at their disposal to make a diagnosis.
Cooperative of American Physicians, January 4, 2021
Malpractice Case: When an Expert's Opinion on a Cardiac Death Isn't Useful An expert's opinion must be based on fact, not hypothesis and speculation.
Cooperative of American Physicians, December 7, 2020
Malpractice Case: Black Box Warnings Can Come Back to Bite in Court Disregarding drug dosage recommendations can give rise to liability risks.
Cooperative of American Physicians, November 9, 2020
Malpractice Case: Being Passive About Referrals Can Be Risky Overlooking key steps in the patient hand-off can lead to missing information and trigger treatment mishaps.
Cooperative of American Physicians, October 5, 2020

ABOUT THE COOPERATIVE OF AMERICAN PHYSICIANS, INC.

The Cooperative of American Physicians, Inc. (CAP), established in 1975, offers medical professional liability protection to nearly 12,000 of California's finest physicians through the Mutual Protection Trust. In 2013, CAP organized CAPAssurance, a Risk Purchasing Group, to bring liability insurance coverage to hospitals, healthcare facilities, and large medical groups. Based in Los Angeles, CAP also has offices in San Diego, Orange County, Sacramento, and Palo Alto. For more information, visit www.CAPphysicians.com . CAP is licensed as a California surplus lines broker (License No. 0B72723). The insurance products provided under the CAPAssurance, a Risk Purchasing Group, program are issued by a “non-admitted” or “surplus line” insurer that is not licensed by the State of California.

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