A National WestlawNext Database Analysis of Malpractice Litigation in Radiation Oncology
Although litigation involving radiation oncologists was infrequent and most verdicts were in favor of defendants, many cases resulted from claims of excessive radiation, unnecessary radiation, and a failure to refer and/or order appropriate tests.
Federal Practitioner. 2018 February;35(1)s:S44-S52
Mr. Prabhu and Mr. Funahashi are medical students and Dr. Agarwal is a resident, all at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in Pennsylvania. Dr. Quang is an Associate Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System, University of Washington School of Medicine, and University of Washington School of Law, Seattle, Washington. Mr. Gupta and Mr. Badeti are medical students at Rutgers New Jersey and Otolaryngology 2, Newark, New Jersey. Dr. Adeeb is a resident, Department of Neurosurgery, Louisiana State University, Shreveport, Louisiana. Dr. Moore is a Clinical Instructor, Department of Neurological Surgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California. Dr. Heron is Professor and Vice Chairman of Clinical Affairs, Department of Radiation Oncology and Otolaryngology; and Dr. Beriwal is a Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, both at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center and University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
Author disclosures The authors report no actual or potential conflicts of interest with regard to this article.
Disclaimer The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of Federal Practitioner, Frontline Medical Communications Inc., the U.S. Government, or any of its agencies.
Conclusion
Litigation involving radiation oncologists were infrequent, and most verdicts were in favor of defendant radiation oncologists. Excessive radiation, unnecessary radiation, and a failure to refer and/or order appropriate tests were noted in most cases. Settlements were reached in the minority of cases, although mean payouts were more than 3 times less in these cases compared with jury verdicts. An increased awareness of radiation oncology malpractice litigation has the potential to improve physician-patient relationships and provide insight into the situations and conditions that commonly lead to litigation within the radiation oncology field.
