Doctors & Lawyers Form 'Dream Team' Asking Supreme Court to Protect Medical Whis

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Thu, 22 Dec 2005 09:06:33 -0500

[sSRI-Research] Doctors & Lawyers Form 'Dream Team' Asking

Supreme Court to Protect Medical Whistleblowers

 

 

 

 

Doctors & Lawyers Form 'Dream Team' Asking Supreme Court to Protect

Medical Whistleblowers

 

ALLIANCE FOR HUMAN RESEARCH PROTECTION (AHRP)

Promoting Openness, Full Disclosure, and Accountability

www.ahrp.org

 

FYI

Attorney Alan Dershowitz has authored a brief on behalf of the

Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) and the

Association of Trial Lawyers in America (ATLA) who have jointly filed

an amicus brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case of Gil

Mileikowsky, MD, of California who was retaliated against (fired from

a hospital) after agreeing to testify on behalf of a patient against a

medical facility owned by Tenet Healthysystem.

 

 

 

Let us hope the Supreme Court will take up this important case

involving hospital abuse of power in disregard of patient safety.

 

 

Contact: Vera Hassner Sharav

212-595-8974

veracare

 

 

www.AAPSonline.org

 

Association of American Physicians & Surgeons

(800) 635-1196 The Voice for Private Physicians Since 1943

December 20, 2005 CONTACT: Kathryn Serkes (202) 333 3855

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: kaserkes

 

DOCTORS & LAWYERS FORM 'DREAM TEAM' TO ASK SUPREME COURT TO PROTECT

MEDICAL WHISTLEBLOWERS

 

Dershowitz Authors Brief for Review of Secret Hospital Abuse of Power

 

Washington, D.C. -- In an extraordinary collaboration of parties more

likely to be adversaries in a courtroom, doctors and trial lawyers

have teamed with famed attorney Alan Dershowitz to urge the Supreme

Court to consider a case that would protect physician whistleblowers

and expose secret hospital abuses of power.

 

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) has been

joined by the Association of Trial Lawyers in America (ATLA) in filing

a " friend of the court " brief asking that the Supreme Court hear the

case of Gil Mileikowsky, M.D. of California, who was ousted from a

hospital after agreeing to testify on behalf of a patient against the

facility, owned by industry giant Tenet Healthsystem. www.AAPSonline.org

 

Also adding to the " odd couple " element of the case is that the

attorney who filed the original petition for review for Dr.

Mileikowsky is Andrew Schlafly. " I'm thrilled that Mr. Dershowitz is

bringing his immense legal skills to shed some light on this abuse of

power by hospitals, " said Mr. Schlafly. " I'm also glad that my fellow

attorneys in ATLA are willing expose these secret proceedings that rob

patients of their most effective advocates through 'sham' peer review. "

 

Other parties joining AAPS in the amicus brief authored by Professor

Alan M. Dershowitz, Amy Adelson and Nathan Z. Dershowitz are: the

Union of American Physicians and Dentists (UAPD), the Semmelweis

Society, the Consumer Attorneys of California (COAC), and the

Government Accountability Project (GAP).

 

Mr. Dershowitz's office released the following statement: " .Physicians

who are entrusted with the care of their patients can see their

professional careers destroyed if they dare to challenge a hospital's

practices. When a 'whistleblowing' physician is retaliated against, it

threatens not only the physician's livelihood, but the care of all

patients. This is a case, therefore, that affects every patient and

potential patient in America. "

 

" This case epitomizes why doctors are afraid to report medical errors

and problems, " said Larry Huntoon, M.D., chairman of the AAPS

Committee to Combat Sham Peer Review. " To bury their own mistakes,

hospitals label doctors as 'disruptive' and file trumped-up charges of

wrongdoing. Then they count on the 'where there's smoke, there's fire'

perception to make the doctor the scapegoat. "

 

And it's usually the most vocal critics and patient advocates who are

thrown on the fire. " [Dr. Mileikowsky] was an outspoken member of the

staff and was disliked by some administrators for that reason, as he

did not shirk his responsibility to publicize administrative

shortcomings at the Hospital that undermined patient care, " states the

doctor's petition to the Supreme Court.

 

(more)

Writing in the brief filed late Monday, Mr. Dershowitz et al. point

out that an accused felon would have had more right to due process

than do doctors: " Doctors, like the petitioner in this case, are

required to defend themselves without counsel against charges that, as

in this case, have been brought in retaliation for the doctor's

support of a patient claiming inadequate care. "

 

The brief explains the implications on patient safety:

The American public, as medical patients, will be the biggest loser if

physicians are compelled to choose between their own livelihoods and

speaking out when they witness dangerous or inadequate medical care.

Few physicians will risk the dire consequences of a bad faith peer

review to speak up on behalf of a single patient, and a critical prong

in the checks and balances integral to a successful health care

program will be silenced. "

 

" I'm extremely grateful to AAPS, " said Dr. Mileikowsky. " It is the

only national medical organization that has the courage to fight for

physician whistleblowers who stand up for patient safety. "

 

Concluded Dr. Huntoon: " The game is over for these hospitals and their

secret star-chamber hearings. Standing up for patients should not mean

the end of a career. "

 

--\

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BACKGROUND/CASE SUMMARY:

Mileikowsky v. Tenet Healthsystem et al.

128 Cal. App. 4th 531 (2nd App. Dist. 2005)

In 2000, Dr. Mileikowsky agreed to testify as an expert witness in a

case against Tenet after both fallopian tubes of a patient were

removed without her consent. Four days later, Tenet retaliated by

requiring that security escort the doctor while on the premises. Dr.

Mileikowsky subsequently provided the FBI healthcare fraud division

with evidence of the loss and mishandling of embryos, eggs and sperms

in the in-vitro fertilization laboratory at Tenet's facility. He was

summarily suspended without cause three days later, under allegations

of " imminent danger. " There had been no previous actions against him.

 

When Dr. Mileikowsky attempted to appeal his case to the hospital

board, he was denied legal representation, and then was denied due

process when the hearings were terminated by the hospital. He has yet

been unable to get a hearing to reinstate his privileges to this date.

 

Dr. Mileikowsky sued Tenet, but lost when the California court assumed

that the state could maintain its " opt out " status with respect to the

1986 Health Care Quality Improvement Act (HCQIA) which requires that a

physician be represented by counsel. However, in 1989, Congress

deleted the opt-out provision from the statute.

 

Additional information:

Text of amicus brief, Petition for Writ of Certiorari, news clips:

http://www.aapsonline.org

CONTACT: Kathryn Serkes

(202) 333-3855

kaserkes