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Accessing Medical Records
Posted by: William Cirignani
March 27, 2008

In an increasingly mobile society, getting and transferring medical records has become a commonplace need.Public Citizen Health Research Group, www.citizen.org/hrg, correctly points out these facts about medical records:

• You are entitled to your own medical records, though you usually have to put the request in writing and probably pay copy charges (Be aware, that these charges are usually set by state statute, and that it is not uncommon, especially when the records are requested following medical malpractice, for hospitals to erroneous charge excessive rates. So be sure to research the prices for research the prices for your state (try Googling: medical record copy costs and the name of your state)

• Others,such as insurance companies, other medical care providers, government agencies, and even your employer may gain access to your medical records. Mostly they gain this right with your consent. Typically, you will be asked to sign a medical release document granting them these rights as a condition for getting benefits.

• There are circumstances where a provider may deny you access to certain types of medical records. Generally speaking, these special types of records are protected from disclosure for public policy reasons. Examples would include: psychotherapy records, hospital incident reports, records created by the hospital for the purpose of evaluating quality of medical care, and in some circumstances records relating to “private” matters, such as acquired immune deficiency.

• Generally speaking, you are entitled to get copies of your records only; however, there may be situations where the law allows you to acquire the records of others. This includes: parents getting the records of minor children; legal (court-appointed) guardians getting the medical records of their ward; and agents such as lawyers, who have acquired the right by a valid Power of Attorney.

• While medical care providers usually keep records for it five to eight years, there is no uniform law that requires a specific time. Consequently, it is a good idea to request your records whenever you are finished using a specific hospital or doctor.

• HIPPA sets national standards for medical records privacy, but does not apply unless the provider maintains and transmits records in electronic form. If your provider does, HIPPA provides that you have the right to see, get a copy of, and amend and supplement you medical records.

• Most other issues regarding health records are governed by state law, so take the time to research what your state has to say.

Author’s note: While Public Citizen has much good to say about many things, please do not assume that CH&H agrees with everything that organization says. We do not.

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Doctor Discipline
Posted by: William Cirignani
October 25, 2007

Being injured by medical malpractice is bad when the doctor is an established, well-respected licensed doctor; but it's tragedy when he's none of those things.

In July of 2006, Jose Veizaga-Mendez, M.D., a general surgeon, voluntarily gave up his license to practice medicine in the State of Massachusetts. According to Massachusetts, Dr. Jose Veizaga-Mendez gave up his license to practice medicine for non-disciplinary reasons. See, http://www.massmedboard.org/public/discipline.shtm, page 12.

But was it really non-disciplinary?

According to public records, Dr. Jose Veizaga-Mendez's agreement to give up his license followed a complaint filed by the Board of Registration of Medicine that among other things, he provided substandard care to seven patients. Seven. You may be thinking these were technical violations, that patients weren't actually hurt. Think again. Here is a sampling of the allegations against Dr. Veizaga-Mendez:

Patient A: In May of 2003, an alleged misdiagnosis in a 48 year old man led to unnecessary surgery. This unnecessary surgery was itself allegedly done improperly leading to the need for still other surgeries. As a result of these surgeries, the patient experienced prolonged paralytic ileus, which is the inability to have a bowel movement due to paralysis of the bowel. Dr. Veizaga-Mendez conduct was alleged to be "grossly substandard."

Patient G: In January of 2000, Dr. Veizaga-Mendez undertook to repair a hiatal hernia in a 58 year-old man. It is alleged that he made a surgical error that led to the leaking of stomach contents, which in turn led to infection, sepsis and respiratory failure. It is further alleged that Dr. Veizaga-Mendez didn't recognize the problem until it was too late. Despite additional surgeries, this 58 year old man died. Veizaga-Mendez conduct was alleged to be "grossly substandard."

Now you may be asking, "What's the point?" If the doctor gave up his license didn't the system work? No, it didn't because after giving up his license in Massachusetts, Dr. Jose Veizaga-Mendez simply moved to Illinois and began doing surgeries again for the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Marion. The results were tragic.

In August of this year, the VA suspended inpatient surgeries based on an unusual increase in post-surgical deaths. According to the Chicago Tribune, VA officials reported that Dr. Jose Veizaga-Mendez was involved in at least some of the nine deaths that occurred of a six month period at the Marion facility. See, http://www.chicagotribune.com/services/newspaper/printedition/thursday/metro/chi-vadococt18,2,6953971.story Our law firm has been hired by several families of patient's injured by Dr. Veizaga-Mendez. Following the shut-down of the Marion VA, Dr. Jose Veizaga-Mendez voluntarily gave up his Illinois Medical License.

It should have never come to this.

As my partner Stan Heller told the Tribune, "If one state . . . thinks somebody is not qualified to practice . . . other states ought to require the doctor to show that he is qualified, instead of the other way around."

Here's your takeaway: research your doctor! If there are complaints against your doctor, ask him or her about them. Don't submit to their care unless and until you are satisfied.

Most states have free searchable web sites for discipline against doctors. See, for example, http://www.dpr.state.il.us, for Illinois; http://www.state.ga.us/meb/bdsearch/index.htmlfor Georgia; and http://www.azmdboard.orgfor Arizona. See also, http://www.docinfo.org which is a fee-based service.

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Why Doctors Don?t Disclose Errors: It Isn?t Fear of Medical Malpractice Suits
Posted by: William Cirignani
August 21, 2007

According to two studies published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, doctors’ hesitation to self-report their errors is not related to fear of law suits. The studies compared the rate of disclosure between Canadian doctors (who get serious protections from law suits) with the disclosure rates of doctors in the United States. The comparison showed no difference. “The external malpractice environment doesn’t have the impact on doctors’ attitudes about disclosure that we thought it did,” said one of the studie’s authors, Thomas Gallagher, an associate professor of Washington School of Medicine.

(Choosing Your Words Carefully: How Physicians Would Disclose Harmful Medical Errors to Patients and U.S. and Canadian Physician’s Attitudes and Experiences Regarding Disclosing Errors to Patients, available for purchase at; http://archinte.ama-asn.org/content/vol166/issue15/index.dtl)

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The Problem Of The Shortage of Doctors
Posted by: William Cirignani
August 21, 2007

Doctor shortage is real.  The reasons for the shortage are in dispute.  The Journal of the American Medical Association recently published the findings of a new study that brings fresh light on the issue.  The study identified policies instituted in the mid-nineties by the medical community as the main culprit of shortages.  Based on faulty predictions regarding general and aging population growth, the medical community recommended freezes on on medical school slots, caps on residency slots, and cuts in residency funding.

(Looming Shortage of Physicians Rasies Concern About Access To Care, available for purchase at: http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/297/10/1045)

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Leading Conservative Activist Seeks Punitive Damages
Posted by: William Cirignani
July 07, 2007

Judge Robert Bork, one of the fathers of the modern judicial conservative movement whose nomination to the Supreme Court was rejected by the Senate, is seeking $1,000,000 in compensatory damages, plus punitive damages, after he slipped and fell at the Yale Club of New York City. Judge Bork was scheduled to give a speech at the club, but he fell when mounting the dais and injured his head and left leg. He alleges that the Yale Club is liable for the $1million plus punitive damages because they “wantonly, willfully, and recklessly” failed to provide staging which he could climb safely. Judge Bork has been a leading advocate of restricting plaintiffs’ ability to recover through tort law.   (June 8, 2007)

Why blog this news piece? Because it points out how, often, reformers want reform for everyone other than themselves -- WAC

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Questions Raised About Malpractice Insurance Company
Posted by: William Cirignani
April 19, 2007

The state's biggest malpractice insurer has posted its biggest profit since the 1980s, increasing pressure on the company to cut rates that have surged in the past five year.

http://chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/mag/

article.pl?article_id=27575&post_date=2007-4-14

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