Doctor Fights Back
Dr. Fullerton made a horrible mistake. He testified for a patient in a medical malpractice case. The defendants won the case and turned Dr. Fullerton into the Florida Medical Association "stating, among other things, that his opinion testimony fell below reasonable professional standards, that it was made “for the sole purpose of propagating a frivolous lawsuit for financial gain,” and that he specifically “presented false testimony and false theories about stroke in the hope to prove negligent medical care in an 80-year-old diabetic with previous strokes who suffered a stroke despite appropriate care.” Appellees concluded their letter with a request to the FMA to issue an opinion addressing whether Fullerton’s testimony “fall[s] below standards,” and, if so, to report its findings to the Board of Medicine for appropriate disciplinary action in order “to prevent the Medical profession from being terrorized by similar experts.”
Fullerton (who was not a member of the FMA) responded with litigation, alleging " that the statements in the letter were false and were submitted for processing by the FMA’s Expert Witness Committee (EWC) of FMA’s Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs (CEJA), which was organized for the purpose 'of intimidating, hindering, and deterring persons, including plaintiff Fullerton, from appearing as expert witnesses on behalf of plaintiffs in cases involving medical malpractice,' thereby depriving injured plaintiffs of the ability to pursue medical-malpractice lawsuits. He continued that because of the actions of FMA and the defendant doctors, who acted in concert to inhibit expert testimony in medical malpractice cases, he had suffered damages and would suffer irreparable harm to his reputation and to his capacity to earn income in the future if the defendant FMA’s CEJA and EWC programs were permitted to continue their operations."
The doctors and the FMA claimed they were immune from suit under the peer review statute in Florida. The trial court dismissed the case.
The Court of Appeals reversed, saying "We find nothing in Florida’s medical peer-review statutes reasonably supporting an interpretation that a peer review committee is shielded from liability for an act taken by the committee on a claim that a physician’s testimony in a medical-malpractice action fell below acceptable professional standards."
Read the entire opinion here.
Read my prior post about Dr. Lustgarten's fight with the North Carolina Medical Board here.
Congradulations to ATLA/s Center for Constitutional Litigation for their efforts on behalf of Dr. Fullerton. ATLA is fighting a similar case in Texas.
Hi,
I'm a physician but I do not want to reveal my real name because this topic is so controversial. In the past I would infrequently give depositions or testify in malpractice cases. I think I worked on a total of 20 cases in about 15 years. I have worked both with defense and plaintiff's attorneys but plaintiff work is easier to get so I did somewhat more of that. When I began to read about the horrendous ordeals some physicians went through when some board picked apart their testimony, I decided to give it up entirely.
I think the current approach, which appears to emphasize suppressing lawsuits, is very misguided. When I signed on to my specialty society, I know I agreed to follow their bylaws but I never dreamed this would subject me to abuse by a "kangaru court" bent on killing off expert witnesses.
But for me this is simply not a significant enough source of income. I don't have the time, the energy or the resources to fight this, at least not individually. I hope that those who have more of an interest in this subject will campaign against the efforts of the various medical specialists to suppress malpractice cases.
There actually should be a law protecting expert witnesses from this type of abuse. Also, the theory that expert testimony constitutes medical practice is completely preposterous. The AMA and other physician groups should not be allowed to get away with it. I've tried speaking up about this at some medical meetings, but I now have given up. Most doctors are completely convinced that anything that one can do to make life harder for plaintiffs is to their benefit. I think that patients and patient advocates need to speak up and contact their representatives in Congress and the state legislatures or the AMA is going to get it's way.
It makes me feel great to see a doctor that has real morals, and stands up for what is right. I am a victim of med mal, and am now left with permanent physical problems because several so called doctors didn't take the time to listen to me and take emergency action. I wish more people, patients and doctors, would do the right thing and speak up to stop this epidemic of incompetent doctors out there. What about the patient? Isn't that the most important thing?