Med Mal News

Washington State's Assisted Suicide Law Goes into Effect

Washington State has become the second state in the union to permit doctors to assist in the suicides of patients with terminal illnesses. The legislation, which was passed by voters last year and went into effect March 5, allows physicians to prescribe lethal doses of prescription medications to terminally ill patients who are of sound mind and who are over the age of 18. The rule allows hospitals to opt out of the practice, which may limit the number of doctors who will be able to assist patient suicides. However, the law permits staff members of hospitals that have “opted out” to refer patients to other health-care providers who can accommodate them.

Doctor's New York License Revoked for Falsely
Diagnosing Patients

The New York State Board for Professional Medical Conduct has revoked a West Virginia doctor's license, saying he falsely diagnosed thousands of patients with asbestos- and silica-caused diseases. According to court records, the doctor, Ray A. Harron, has already surrendered his licenses to practice medicine in Florida, Mississippi and Texas. New York's Board relied on the Texas medical board's factual findings in making its decision, stating Dr. Harron's acts “would constitute fraud and negligence had they been committed in New York.”

Dr. Harron's attorney, Elizabeth M. Johnson of the Law Offices of Lawrence Goldman in New York, said she has appealed the New York decision to the administrative review board. “He has not been practicing actively for four years,” said Johnson. “Obviously, we don't think this decision is appropriate ' . He has not been actively practicing and it is unclear why the state is pursuing this when he is not practicing.”

Doctors Charged with Conspiracy in Anna Nicole Smith Overdose Case

Two doctors and the former companion of actress Anna Nicole Smith have been charged with conspiring to furnish her with drugs prior to her death from drug overdose in 2007. The felony complaints against Doctors Sandeep Kapoor and Khristine Eroshevish, and lawyer Howard K. Stern, were announced on March 12. Concerning the case, California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. stated in a release, “These individuals repeatedly and excessively furnished thousands of prescription pills to Anna Nicole Smith, often for no legitimate medical purpose. There is ample evidence that Doctor Eroshevich and Doctor Kapoor violated their ethical obligations as physicians, while Mr. Stern funneled highly addictive drugs to Ms. Smith.”

New Jersey Senate Passes Medical Error Reporting Bill

A bill that would require individual hospitals and health-care facilities to publicly report all medical errors passed in the State's senate March 16 by a vote of 38-0. The measure, S-2471, enhances New Jersey's Patient Safety Act of 2004, which requires the Department of Health and Senior Services to issue an annual Hospital Performance Report statistically documenting medical errors at New Jersey's hospitals. The proposed law would provide more detail on medical errors by including hospital-specific performance numbers on 14 separate “patient safety indicators,” such as the number of wrong-site surgeries or the number of foreign objects left behind in patients following a procedure. Under the law, hospitals and medical care providers would be prohibited from charging patients for their services in cases in which any of the 14 indicators are present.

Economic Concerns Shouldn't Affect Hospital Privilege Decisions

An Arkansas court had enjoined a hospital from denying hospital privileges to doctors based on financial issues rather than competency concerns. The case arose when Baptist Hospital, Arkansas' largest hospital system, adopted a policy in 2003 prohibiting the credentialing of a doctor if that doctor held an ownership interest in any other Arkansas hospital. Dr. Bruce E. Murphy and several other physicians owned interests in the Arkansas Heart Hospital. They would therefore be barred from obtaining credentials from Baptist Hospital if the economic credentialing program was upheld. They sought a declaration that the credentialing program interfered with their patient/physician relationships, as well as their business and other interests.

The hospital did not dispute the aggrieved physicians' assertion that patient outcomes were better when patients have long-term relationships with the doctors treating them. It argued, however, that doctors with ownership interests in other hospitals would tend to send their more lucrative patients to those hospitals, placing the less profitable patients in Baptist Health, thus endangering the care of all patients at the hospital by draining the hospital's resources. The court was unconvinced by this argument, finding that Baptist Health's policy was primarily intended to keep doctors from investing in its competitors. Wrote the court, “Baptist Health's motive was to exclude specialty hospitals from its market, secure patient referrals and punish physicians who invested in specialty hospitals. Significantly, the evidence at trail was that Baptist Health wanted to force the patients to make a decision between the plaintiffs and Baptist Health.”

The American Medical Association, which intervened in the case, praised the case's outcome in a release. “Hospital admitting privileges have long been considered an indispensable component of a medical practice,” said Rebecca Patchin, M.D., chair-elect of the AMA Board. “Baptist Health took advantage of this fact to coerce physicians and squash competition from other medical facilities ' . Hospitals cannot use their financial interest to justify policies that interfere with patients' health care choices.”

The decision in Murphy v. Baptist Health is available at: http://www.ama-assn.org/ama1/pub/upload/mm/395/order-for-permanent-injunction.pdf.

Washington State's Assisted Suicide Law Goes into Effect

Washington State has become the second state in the union to permit doctors to assist in the suicides of patients with terminal illnesses. The legislation, which was passed by voters last year and went into effect March 5, allows physicians to prescribe lethal doses of prescription medications to terminally ill patients who are of sound mind and who are over the age of 18. The rule allows hospitals to opt out of the practice, which may limit the number of doctors who will be able to assist patient suicides. However, the law permits staff members of hospitals that have “opted out” to refer patients to other health-care providers who can accommodate them.

Doctor's New York License Revoked for Falsely
Diagnosing Patients

The New York State Board for Professional Medical Conduct has revoked a West Virginia doctor's license, saying he falsely diagnosed thousands of patients with asbestos- and silica-caused diseases. According to court records, the doctor, Ray A. Harron, has already surrendered his licenses to practice medicine in Florida, Mississippi and Texas. New York's Board relied on the Texas medical board's factual findings in making its decision, stating Dr. Harron's acts “would constitute fraud and negligence had they been committed in New York.”

Dr. Harron's attorney, Elizabeth M. Johnson of the Law Offices of Lawrence Goldman in New York, said she has appealed the New York decision to the administrative review board. “He has not been practicing actively for four years,” said Johnson. “Obviously, we don't think this decision is appropriate ' . He has not been actively practicing and it is unclear why the state is pursuing this when he is not practicing.”

Doctors Charged with Conspiracy in Anna Nicole Smith Overdose Case

Two doctors and the former companion of actress Anna Nicole Smith have been charged with conspiring to furnish her with drugs prior to her death from drug overdose in 2007. The felony complaints against Doctors Sandeep Kapoor and Khristine Eroshevish, and lawyer Howard K. Stern, were announced on March 12. Concerning the case, California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. stated in a release, “These individuals repeatedly and excessively furnished thousands of prescription pills to Anna Nicole Smith, often for no legitimate medical purpose. There is ample evidence that Doctor Eroshevich and Doctor Kapoor violated their ethical obligations as physicians, while Mr. Stern funneled highly addictive drugs to Ms. Smith.”

New Jersey Senate Passes Medical Error Reporting Bill

A bill that would require individual hospitals and health-care facilities to publicly report all medical errors passed in the State's senate March 16 by a vote of 38-0. The measure, S-2471, enhances New Jersey's Patient Safety Act of 2004, which requires the Department of Health and Senior Services to issue an annual Hospital Performance Report statistically documenting medical errors at New Jersey's hospitals. The proposed law would provide more detail on medical errors by including hospital-specific performance numbers on 14 separate “patient safety indicators,” such as the number of wrong-site surgeries or the number of foreign objects left behind in patients following a procedure. Under the law, hospitals and medical care providers would be prohibited from charging patients for their services in cases in which any of the 14 indicators are present.

Economic Concerns Shouldn't Affect Hospital Privilege Decisions

An Arkansas court had enjoined a hospital from denying hospital privileges to doctors based on financial issues rather than competency concerns. The case arose when Baptist Hospital, Arkansas' largest hospital system, adopted a policy in 2003 prohibiting the credentialing of a doctor if that doctor held an ownership interest in any other Arkansas hospital. Dr. Bruce E. Murphy and several other physicians owned interests in the Arkansas Heart Hospital. They would therefore be barred from obtaining credentials from Baptist Hospital if the economic credentialing program was upheld. They sought a declaration that the credentialing program interfered with their patient/physician relationships, as well as their business and other interests.

The hospital did not dispute the aggrieved physicians' assertion that patient outcomes were better when patients have long-term relationships with the doctors treating them. It argued, however, that doctors with ownership interests in other hospitals would tend to send their more lucrative patients to those hospitals, placing the less profitable patients in Baptist Health, thus endangering the care of all patients at the hospital by draining the hospital's resources. The court was unconvinced by this argument, finding that Baptist Health's policy was primarily intended to keep doctors from investing in its competitors. Wrote the court, “Baptist Health's motive was to exclude specialty hospitals from its market, secure patient referrals and punish physicians who invested in specialty hospitals. Significantly, the evidence at trail was that Baptist Health wanted to force the patients to make a decision between the plaintiffs and Baptist Health.”

The American Medical Association, which intervened in the case, praised the case's outcome in a release. “Hospital admitting privileges have long been considered an indispensable component of a medical practice,” said Rebecca Patchin, M.D., chair-elect of the AMA Board. “Baptist Health took advantage of this fact to coerce physicians and squash competition from other medical facilities ' . Hospitals cannot use their financial interest to justify policies that interfere with patients' health care choices.”

The decision in Murphy v. Baptist Health is available at: http://www.ama-assn.org/ama1/pub/upload/mm/395/order-for-permanent-injunction.pdf.