Larry Wall speaks at the WBA Medical Malpractice Trial Practice Seminar

On Friday, February 6, 2015, Larry Wall was a speaker at the Wichita Bar Association’s continuing legal education seminar. The seminar focused on the topic of Medical Malpractice Trial Practice. Mr. Wall spoke on the subject of Patient Safety. The event was well attended by local members of both the plaintiff and defense bar, as well as attendance by Sedgwick County District Court Judge David Dahl.  The subject of patient safety has recently become a hot topic in medical malpractice actions. Defendants doctors now routinely object to the use of the word in trial. In fact in a recent medical malpractice trial the defense counsel convinced a trial judge to ban not only the word “safety” but the entire subject of patient safety was also banned.

Defendants argue that the subject of patient safety is essentially meaningless within the context of the practice of medicine.

Defendants argue that the subject of patient safety is wholly irrelevant to the “legal” duty of a physician. Fortunately for all of us Kansas law and the policy of Kansas disagree. Physicians “are in the best position to protect their patient from injury and consequently have a” duty to do so, (Mc Vay v. Rich 255 Kan 371). The duty of a healthcare provider is to “insure the health and safety of [the] patient…”, (Lemuz v. Fieser, 261 Kan 936). The law of Kansas has long emphasized a physicians legal duty is to protect the patient from injury.”,(Puckett v. Mt. Carmel Reg’l Med.Ctr., 290 Kan. 406).

Is there evidence that patient safety is important in Kansas and is a fundamental part of health care?

The Kansas Board of Healing Arts mission statement starts with the following phrase “Safeguarding the public…”. The newsletter for the Board of Healing Arts states on its masthead “Your health and safety is our greatest purpose.” The newsletter concludes with the following language, “The Board and its staff believe that the public’s health and safety are the agency’s greatest purposes.” The Board has stated that in a disciplinary action “Because of the need to ensure the public safety, the Board’s discovery time-frame is usually shorter than in civil cases.”

We will continue our fight for patient safety. If you or a loved one have been injured by the negligence of a doctor, contact us at 1-800-475-4140, for a free evaluation of your situation.