Has Your Doctor Committed Medical Malpractice?

Dr. Enrique Tomeu was named as a defendant in seven medical malpractice lawsuits in a decade. After two settlements and a jury verdict against him, the doctor’s insurance carrier was out half a million dollars. He later closed up his obstetrics practice and left the area… for New Zealand.

Dr. Tomeu opened up a new obstetrics practice halfway across the world and continued his negligent ways. In New Zealand, Dr. Tomeu practiced for about a year before being found partially responsible for a baby’s death. When that happened, Dr. Tomeu packed up shop again, and this time opened a practice in North Carolina.

Dr. Tomeu’s case is a chief example of the need for wider dissemination of doctors’ medical malpractice histories. Put simply – if you knew your OB/GYN had been named in 7 lawsuits in 10 years, was found liable in a jury trial, and found responsible in the death of a New Zealand baby, wouldn’t you start shopping around for a new doctor?

Similar Occurrences

Each of the three cases that Dr. Tomeu’s insurance company ended up footing the bill for involved similar circumstances. In each of the cases, the baby delivered allegedly suffered from shoulder dystocia, a complication that occurs when the baby’s shoulder gets caught behind the mother’s pelvic bone during delivery. This causes the nerves that connect the baby’s shoulder, arm, and hand to the spinal cord to be stretched, torn, or pulled out of the spinal column. This injury commonly results in Erb’s palsy, a form of paralysis that can leave the shoulder, hand, and arm permanently disabled.

Making Doctor’s Information Public

So how would you know if your doctor had prior medical malpractice suits filed against him? In Virginia, you can look the Virginia Board of Medicine’s Practitioner Information website. This website requires doctors to provide their:

· Practice Information

· Education

· Years in Active Clinical Practice

· Board Certifications

· Hospital Affiliations

· Academic Appointments

· Publications

· Medicaid Participation

· Actions

· Felony Convictions

· Paid Claims in the Last Ten Years

However, because all of the information is self-reported, it is often incomplete. Virginia is requiring that its doctors include any and all disciplinary actions by the Board of Medical Examiners, however.


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©2010 Weisberg & Zaleski, P.C., All Rights Reserved, Reproduced with Permission
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