Paramedic Law Suits

[CWATT]

If I'm being honest, one of my greatest fears is being on the receiving end of a frivolous law suit. It seems everyone has a Google MD, and in this highly litigious world, the door is wide open for someone to drag you through the mud, even if you did your job 100% correctly. It'll be up to you in court to prove otherwise. Moreover, while medicine is a 'practice', the highly protocol-driven paramedicine discipline makes us very volurnable to any deviation, judgment call, interpretation of evidence, or choice of treatment.

I'm curious about the metrics though. Are you aware of someone who has been the recipient of a legal pursuit because your/their patient felt you should have done your job differently?

**In lieu of this being a sensitive subject, please omit specifics for confidentiality purposes.


- C

 

[akflightmedic]

The legend never dies...

Does it happen, yes but rarely is the assumption because we hear so very little about it....why? Because the majority of lawsuits are settled outside the courtroom by your employer. You may or may not have a job afterwards but being sued personally, it does happen, will you pay....? I think we had a discussion on here a few years ago about this very topic and we were hard pressed to find a case where a paramedic or EMT had to personally be held financially responsible.

As I stated then and now...I have been named in a lawsuit (frivolous ones) and as it progresses through the various stages I was dropped as I was not the golden ticket, my county was and this is why a lot of agencies self-insure. Negotiate and manage the payout yourself and seal it up....confidential.

 

[GMCmedic]

I can think of 6 or so lawsuits in my area in the last 6 years. All but one were settled out of court and in all cases the service or county (insurance) picked up the tab. All but one of those medics is still licensed, the one who isnt earned it. The rest of the cases were frivolous.

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[EpiEMS]

I think we had a discussion on here a few years ago about this very topic and we were hard pressed to find a case where a paramedic or EMT had to personally be held financially responsible.

I've yet to see anything within the past five years or so, but here is one (fairly recent) study on tort claims against EMS agencies. Couldn't really find anything good on suits against providers.