Sue Hartigan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: Doctor Wins $2.5 Million Settlement > SAN DIEGO (AP) -- A pediatrician has agreed to accept a > $2.5 million settlement with a medical group that fired > him, allegedly in retaliation for spending too much > time and money on his patients. > > Dr. Thomas W. Self won a landmark victory earlier this > month when a jury awarded him $1.75 million over the > firing. The settlement, announced Monday, means the > jury award will be set aside and a hearing on punitive > damages, scheduled for later this week, will be > canceled. > > ``I am pleased, relieved and vindicated,'' said the San > Diego doctor. ``I was swimming upstream against the > good-old-boy network. But I wanted to show people the > position I have taken for quality of care was right.'' > > Self, 58, is the first physician to win a case under a > 1992 California law that prohibits retaliation against > physicians for advocating appropriate patient care. > > The San Diego Superior Court jury found that Children's > Associated Medical Group, the main group of physicians > at Children's Hospital in Kearny Mesa, and its > president, Dr. Irvin Kaufman, fired Self because he > refused to limit care. > > Self, who still works as a pediatrician at the > hospital, testified during the trial that he was fired > from the group in 1995 for ordering too many tests and > spending too much time with youngsters. > > Lawyers for the medical group say Self was fired over a > contractual dispute. > > ``This is a very unfortunate situation,'' said Dr. > Michael Segall of Children's Associated Medical Group. > ``We are of the conviction this never had anything to > do with managed care.'' > > The settlement did not amount to an admission of > wrongdoing, he said. > > Children's Associated Medical Group is not a health > maintenance organization, but it has contracts with > HMOs. More than half of its patients are covered > through MediCal, the federally- and state-funded health > insurance for the indigent. > -- Two rules in life: 1. Don't tell people everything you know. 2. Subscribe/Unsubscribe, email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the body of the message enter: subscribe/unsubscribe law-issues
