PEDIATRICS Vol. 77 No. 3 March 1986, pp. A40
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GUILTY! DON'T WORRY

Joseph A. C. Girone MD

It's amazing. The lawyers make the malpractice laws, witch hunt until a case is found, and then take a large portion of any award given. They are not satisfied with that. Robert V. Wills, JD, writing in Surgical Rounds gives we physicians three maxims on how to react when slapped with a malpractice suit.

The lawyers don't want the physicians to get upset or overreact when accused of negligence, carelessness, or reckless behavior. Wills reminds us there is better than a 50/50 chance of resolution of the claim in the doctor's favor. These cases should be treated as an economic nuisance and you may not be the primary defendant. He further suggests physicians regard a malpractice claim as a "cost of doing business."

Are we going to accept this advice so kindly offered by the legal councilors? After all, they don't give free advice often. The medical profession is special in many ways. Therefore, any allegation of wrongdoing or mistreatment of a patient must be addressed by that profession the best way available. The medical profession should never approach the malpractice crisis in this country with an attitude of "economic nuisance" or percent chances of resolution in the doctor's favor.

The physician's attitude and feelings toward a malpractice action are more accurately described by a fellow physician, Dave Ellison, MD, in the piece "Not Guilty." These cases are a direct attack on the competence and integrity of the victim—physician. Let's take the advice of Dr. Ellison and show our colleagues who are sued, respect, compassion, and concern. Unknowingly, he put in prospective the lawyer's maxims when he wrote "[it's] no more useful than advising a depressed patient to "cheer up!" We need not look outside of our profession to advise us on our behavior in this difficult situation.