An article entitled “Avoid Common Mistakes in Malpractice Cases,” which appeared in the March 2023 issue of Healthcare Risk Management magazine, discussed how to handle an allegation of medical malpractice. Rivkin Radler’s Eric Strober was quoted extensively in the article.
Eric pointed out that one of the biggest mistakes would be altering a patient record after the fact. He also cautioned against directly contacting the plaintiff or anyone else involved in the case: “Particularly if it’s your first time, there’s a tendency to potentially panic about it and start reaching out to the family, or the patient, or other doctors. ‘Why are you suing me? What have I done?’ When someone’s represented by counsel, you certainly should not be contacting the patient or their family. You should not be trying to cover your tracks or talk someone out of it. It never is going to work in your
favor.”
Another error, according to Eric, would be for an employer to fire or otherwise penalize someone accused of wrongdoing in a lawsuit: “It could have a bad look to it. If that person is no longer your employee, they have no incentive to help you defend the case. You may not even be able to find them at that point, and if you do, they may not be willing to cooperate.”
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