Helping health care providers better cope with the

legal processes of a malpractice action.

A NEW BLOG and BOOKS written by both Physician and Lawyer

Darryl S. Weiman, M.D., J.D.

Professor, Cardiothoracic Surgery University of Tennessee Health Science Center

Chief, Surgical Service, VAMC Memphis

Read Dr. Weiman's NEW Obamacare Blog by clicking here!

Medical Malpractice—A Physician’s Guide to Navigating the Mine Field of Medical Malpractice Law is a book intended to help the health care provider better cope with the legal processes of a malpractice action.  Most books written about malpractice law have been written by practicing attorneys.  This book is written by a physician who is also a lawyer.

 

Dr. Weiman maintains a full time practice as an academic Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeon.  He was also able to successfully navigate through law school and pass the Bar Exam for Tennessee.  He brings a different and integrated perspective since he has direct experience of being  sued for malpractice.  He has been deposed and has testified in court both as a defendant and a medical expert witness.  He is one of only a handful of practicing cardiothoracic surgeons who is also licensed to practice law.  Dr. Weiman still makes his living taking care of patients with diseases of the chest, but now some of his research and teaching is in the field of health care law.

 

As state legislatures and the United States Congress actively debate various aspects of malpractice reform, health care providers who have more knowledge of the system should be better able to participate in these legal debates.  This book discusses various models for malpractice reform so that physicians and others can have an idea what may be coming in the future.

 

This book is long past due.

Endorsements

Acknowledgments

Endorsements on Behalf of

Medical Malpractice—

A Physician’s Guide to Navigating the Minefield of Medical Malpractice Law

 

 

Dr. Glenn Whitman

Associate Professor, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

Director, Heart Transplant and the Cardiac ICU,

Johns Hopkins Hospital,

Baltimore, Maryland

 

Dr. Weiman walks his colleagues through the burdensome, frequently unjust task of defending ourselves when faced with a lawsuit.  Using cardiac surgery as an example, he points out that a physician will face a suit one out of every three years in practice.  Understanding the foundations and process of a lawsuit give us the keys to preventing them and, when necessary, defending ourselves successfully.

 

Unquestionably, this book represents a body of knowledge physicians would rather not spend time learning.  However, the material covered should be part of every physician’s lexicon. This easily understood book explains the processes involved in a lawsuit, from beginning to end, giving the reader an awareness of the relevant legal issues, enabling us to converse with our representatives as well as adversaries knowledgably, in a manner that can only serve our profession and our individual cause well.

 

The prose flows well, the arcane legal terms are demystified. Dr. Weiman provides the reader with an understanding of a process that otherwise frequently makes little sense.   His stepwise approach to a lawsuit, pinpointing key elements as he takes us through the process, is a time saving, efficient guide with which we should all be fluent.

 

Medical Malpractice—A Physician’s Guide makes for easy reading; its directed approach to teaching us what we need to know distills a vast body of knowledge, quickly putting the most important issues at our fingertips.

 

Dr. Weiman deserves applause and appreciation for what he has given us.

 

*****

Mark K. Ferguson, MD

Professor, Department of Surgery and The Cancer Research Center Head,

Thoracic Surgery Service Director,

Residency Program in Cardiothoracic Surgery

The University of Chicago Medicine & Biological Sciences

 

Medical Malpractice is a wonderful compendium of medical-legal facts and fallacies that every physician will benefit from. Dr. Weiman brings his considerable experience as a cardiothoracic surgeon and educator in medicine and the medical-legal environment to a volume that is full of practical advice.   He provides a careful presentation of facts and lucid explanations of what, to a lay person, appears to be an arcane and convoluted legal system.   Nothing is “dumbed down;” the assumption is that readers have more than a casual interest in the topic and more than average intelligence.

 

This well organized book anticipates the needs of physicians throughout the process and provides the information necessary for physician defendants to manage    a trying situation with insight and, hopefully, aplomb.  It is readable, informative, and very helpful.  This is the perfect book for physicians who are faced with legal challenges to their professional activities.

 

*****

Frederick L. Greene, MD FACS

Levine Cancer Institute, Charlotte, NC and

Adjunct Professor of Surgery, University of North Carolina School of Medicine

 

Darryl Weiman, a medical educator, practicing cardiothoracic surgeon, service chief, and a lawyer well-versed in malpractice law has authored a book specifically aimed to help physicians maneuver the mine field of tort law as it pertains to medical malpractice.          Dr. Weiman is a unique individual who was not only concerned about the problems that physicians faced in courts of law, but wanted to understand the nuances of malpractice issues from the inside. He, therefore, matriculated in law school with the specific purpose of understanding every facet of this process which he has now brought forward in Medical Malpractice—A Physician’s Guide.

 

Dr. Weiman takes us from the beginning of the process, introducing us to the lexicon of terms frequently both foreign and confusing to the practicing physician.  In well-referenced chapters he covers every conceivable nuance of the malpractice process while making this a readable    and highly educational process for physicians who need to know.

 

If a physician is one of the 7 to 8% who will find themselves in a malpractice claim each year, this treatise is mandatory for understanding not only what is expected, but arms the physician with important information on preparing and bearing up through the process. This book also carefully outlines the peer review process and helps us to understand what is privileged and protected information as we convene in our healthcare institutions.

 

We should all be grateful to Dr. Weiman for creating this primer that will be mandatory reading for those physicians who might find themselves in the vortex of a malpractice case.  As Dr. Weiman tells us, “knowledge is good.” This book helps us to understand the very fluid nature of medical liability and to enter into the world of a malpractice claim armed with essential background material.

 

As Dr. Weiman reminds us, the Chinese philosopher, Sun Tzu, wrote: “So it is said that if you know others and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles.” Medical Malpractice—A Physician’s Guide will undoubtedly arm us and help us prepare for any conflict that we might face if we find ourselves as a defendant.

*****

With love to my wife Kathleen and daughters, Johanna, and Millicent. Their patience, encouragement, and inspiration were invaluable through the years spent in law school, doing research for, and writing this book.

 

 To Victoria Houseman Bromley who edited the first drafts of the book to make the writing understandable to the non-lawyer and for reorganizing the sequence of chapters to clarify the applicable legal process and associated issues.

 

 To Glen Aubrey and Creative Team Publishing who were willing to take on this project despite the paucity of work in this area and not being sure if the intended audience would even be interested.

 

 To Justin Aubrey for his cover design.

 

 To Randy Beck for the website design and instructions on marketing to get the existence of this book out to interested parties.

 

 To my parents, whose emphasis on education helped in forming my career; this has not been an easy road.

 

 To Kyle Wiggins and Steve Barlow, fellow law school students who were willing to help the unconventional heart surgeon who was juggling an active surgical practice while trying to meet the academic requirements of the school.

 

 To my medical colleagues who insisted that this work be done to help level the playing field in the process and intricacies of malpractice law.

About these  Books

Plus shipping and handling. Tennessee sales tax if applicable.

Special Price!

$24.95

Normally Priced $29.95

Plus shipping and handling.

Tennessee sales tax if applicable.

 

Fundamental Issues in Health Care Law

Facts for the Health Care Professional

by Darryl S. Weiman, M.D., J.D.

With knowledge comes power. This lecture series was designed to help the health care professional better cope with the legal processes they will confront when the law and medicine meet. We are governed by law. Ignorance of the law is not a defense. While the final arbiter of an interpretation of law is the Supreme Court of the United States, it is said that the Supreme Court is not last because it is right, it is right because it is last. Know the law. Know how it affects the health care professional. That knowledge may help you greatly when the law and medicine meet in your practice.

 

The topics are:

Introduction to Law

Health Courts

Stark Reality

Doctrine of Informed Consent

Futility

Resident Personnel Files: Are They Discoverable?

Themes for Malpractice Defense

Health Care Talking Points

Regulation of Provider Conduct

Morbidity and Mortality Conference

The Medical Expert Witness

The Federal Tort Claims Act and the National Practitioner Data Bank

The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA)

 

Dr. Weiman has presented as a visiting professor on numerous occasions.  You are invited to contact him through his website, to arrange your lecture presentations, and for more information.

Special Hardcover Price!

$54.95

Normally Priced $59.95

Special Softcover Price!

$34.95

Normally Priced $39.95

About the Author

Darryl S. Weiman, M.D., J.D. is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a member of the American Association of Thoracic Surgeons. He is a graduate of Northwestern University where he majored in Biomedical Engineering. Dr. Weiman did his medical school training at Saint Louis University.

 

After medical school, he did his General Surgery residency at the University of Chicago and his Cardiothoracic residency at Long Island Jewish Hospital.

 

While maintaining an active practice in cardiothoracic surgery at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Dr. Weiman obtained a legal education at the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law at the University of Memphis. He passed the Bar Exam for the State of Tennessee.

 

Dr. Weiman continues to be a Professor of Surgery at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and is the Chief of Surgery at the VA Medical Center in Memphis. Although he does not practice law, he does research on health care issues and speaks and publishes on some of these topics. He is also a Regular Contributor to the Huffington Post.

 

Dr. Weiman is married to Kathleen Weiman and has two daughters, Johanna and Millicent who are both getting ready for college.

 

Dr. Weiman's YouTube Channel

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