Salacious reports of doctors being sued for wrongful diagnoses or treatments are clickbait. The fact is, medical cases tend to be very complex matters, and not always straightforward.
For example, I know of a case where a physician was sued because of a missed cancer diagnosis. The root of the diagnostic oversight lay not with the doctor, but ultimately with consultants involved in the patient's care, who dismissed subtle features that only later, proved to be important. But because the physician worked at a large university hospital with deep pockets, he was targeted as the defendant. Most times, hospitals settle quietly, often to avoid the trial experience. Personal injury attorneys know this, and see potential quick money for their clients (and themselves). Finer points like this never make it into the news articles.
One should also be aware that physicians are legally unable to defend themselves in the public square. Even if a patient publicly discloses being the physician's client, HIPAA laws prohibit the physician from confirming this. Violation can result in huge fines. I imagine that unscrupulous lawyers take advantage of this to press for settlement. So when a doctor or a hospital only says "no comment", there is a legal reason for this. So while anyone can publicize an alleged malpractice case, the physician must suffer silently, while sordid reports linger on the Internet. And when the case is dismissed or settled in the physician's favor, as did happen in the above case, the media usually has lost interest and has moved on. No wonder a lot of physicians experience burnout.
Salacious reports of doctors being sued for wrongful diagnoses or treatments are clickbait. The fact is, medical cases tend to be very complex matters, and not always straightforward.
For example, I know of a case where a physician was sued because of a missed cancer diagnosis. The root of the diagnostic oversight lay not with the doctor, but ultimately with consultants involved in the patient's care, who dismissed subtle features that only later, proved to be important. But because the physician worked at a large university hospital with deep pockets, he was targeted as the defendant. Most times, hospitals settle quietly, often to avoid the trial experience. Personal injury attorneys know this, and see potential quick money for their clients (and themselves). Finer points like this never make it into the news articles.
One should also be aware that physicians are legally unable to defend themselves in the public square. Even if a patient publicly discloses being the physician's client, HIPAA laws prohibit the physician from confirming this. Violation can result in huge fines. I imagine that unscrupulous lawyers take advantage of this to press for settlement. So when a doctor or a hospital only says "no comment", there is a legal reason for this. So while anyone can publicize an alleged malpractice case, the physician must suffer silently, while sordid reports linger on the Internet. And when the case is dismissed or settled in the physician's favor, as did happen in the above case, the media usually has lost interest and has moved on. No wonder a lot of physicians experience burnout.