by Gil N. Mileikowsky, MD In search of the “Black Box” for reliable and cost-effective quality control of the delivery of medical care. The reason airline transportation is the safest of all transports is due to the famous “black box” that provides the necessary first step, i.e. the accurate “diagnosis.” Without that reliable “forensic” analysis, […]

Are our hospitals any different from ENRON and WORLDCOM in their proclivity to hide the truth? Doctors are supposed to keep the medicine clean by performing “peer-review” on each other and taking actions where they find problems. But in many hospitals, the power elite (administrators and physicians acting in concert) simply use this system to […]

by David M. Galie On April 5, 1989 Robert Fellmeth, a professor of law and Director of the Center for Public Interest Law (CPIL) at the University of San Diego School of Law, issued a report entitled “Physician Discipline in California: A Code Blue Emergency – An Initial Report on the Physician Discipline System of […]

by Verner Waite and Robert Walker It’s common in medicine that asking 10 doctors for an opinion on medical care will result in at least five different suggestions. Someone commented that if you asked the same 10 doctors a week or two later, you might get five new and different opinions. There are no universally […]

by Sharon Kime and Robert Sullivan A doctor who is the subject of a peer review investigation for substandard care should first of all obtain the advice of an experienced health care lawyer. This is not a field for the lawyer who drafted the physician’s will or handled his divorce. Health care law has become […]

by Sharon Kime and Robert Sullivan Physicians in California practice under a microscope. Virtually every physician is subject to legal constraints or governmental oversight – the Medical Practice Act, the Medicare and Medi-Cal laws, as well as contractual obligations under provider agreements with health plans. For many Sacramento physicians, practicing in the “managed care capital” […]

by Sharon Kime and Robert Sullivan Physician discipline is a lot like hunting gazelles in Africa. Recall the wildlife movies you’ve watched. A herd of thousands of gazelles graze peacefully across vast African plain. Creeping undetected in the grass to the right are several lionesses studying the herd, waiting for the opportune moment to lunge […]