In this episode (the last of Season Two), Dr. Pensa sits down to speak with a plaintiff's attorney. However, her guest, Chad Englehardt , is not your average plaintiff's attorney. Chad is a highly lauded attorney, law professor, and advocate of Rick Boothman's Michigan Model (for more on that, listen to Episode 13 of Season Two. ) We talk extensively about CRP (Communication - Resolution) programs, patient safety, and the dysfunction of our current legal system, which re-traumatizes patients and...
Jun 21, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Season 2Ep. 17
Following up after episode 15, "What to Know When the Government Comes Knocking," Dr. Pensa interviews a physician who went up against the US Department of Justice -- and won. Dr. Muhamad Aly Rifai is a practicing psychiatrist, boarded in psychiatry and internal medicine, who was indicted on charges of healthcare fraud by the US government in 2022, following seven years of investigation. Dr. Rifai was confident he was innocent, and confident in his billing practices -- and despite intimidation b...
May 17, 2025•28 min•Season 2Ep. 16
The Department of Justice is waging a war on healthcare fraud, and sometimes even well-meaning doctors can get swept up in it. Today's interview with healthcare law attorney Anthony Box will shed some light on this high stakes topic. Tony Box has extensive experience not only in defending doctors against government allegations -- but he also previously investigated and prosecuted these cases as a federal prosecutor and FBI agent. He knows both sides of this coin very well. Host Dr. Gita Pensa an...
Apr 19, 2025•45 min•Season 2Ep. 15
When an insurance company is accused of acting in bad faith, it's alleged that they failed to act fairly and reasonably in handling a claim -- often related to not agreeing to a reasonable settlement when the financial risk to the insured at trial was known to be substantial. In this episode, host Dr. Gita Pensa talks with Florida attorney Dale Swope about his decades of experience with bad faith lawsuits. Mr. Swope emphasizes that some liability insurers are more reliable and fair-minded than o...
Mar 23, 2025•45 min•Season 2Ep. 14
If you’ve ever felt frustrated by the fear-driven legal landscape of medicine, this conversation will change the way you think about liability and the future of patient safety. In this episode, Dr. Pensa sits down with trailblazer Richard Boothman, JD, a pioneer in patient safety and transparency, to discuss how the traditional "deny and defend" approach has failed both doctors and patients. We discuss the "Michigan Model," how it came to be, how it works, and how new CMS and ACGME changes may m...
Feb 16, 2025•53 min•Season 2Ep. 13
The first LEAP (Litigation Education and Performance) Course for Clinicians will run from March 17th through June 2nd, 2025. This is a hybrid online course, 1 h/week self paced videos and 6 live virtual review and Q&A sessions with Dr. Pensa, one of which will be an Ask-a-Lawyer segment with a seasoned defense attorney. These live sessions are spaced every other week, at varying times, and will be recorded if you can't make a session. This is for anyone -- doctors, nurses, APPs, dentists -- ...
Jan 30, 2025•9 min•Season 2Ep. 12
In this episode we have a conversation with surgeon and longtime expert witness Dr. Stephen Cohen, who wants to tell you about common mistakes he's seen physician defendants make in their cases. Dr. Pensa and Dr. Cohen discuss real cases Dr. Cohen participated in as an expert, and their legal outcomes. We also emphasize the unfortunate reality that we (and licensing boards, and society)should not use adverse jury verdicts and legal outcomes alone to infer whether someone's medical care was reaso...
Dec 29, 2024•38 min•Season 2Ep. 11
Dr. Pensa explains why attention to your thinking, even when you feel your mental health is "good", can lead to personal growth and a more satisfying life. We all know the markers of excellent physical health, but what are the components of excellent mental health? Is it simply being happy all the time? Is that even possible? (Spoiler: it's not.) Using functional fitness for the body as an analogy, we look at the importance of not waiting until your health is poor before making efforts to improv...
Nov 27, 2024•33 min•Season 2Ep. 10
Many of us have no idea who our medical malpractice insurance carrier is, let alone the details in our policy. But this ignorance can have huge consequences when it's time to face a claim, and it's better to go into that challenge with your eyes wide open. On this podcast, Dr. Pensa speaks with John Shufeldt, MD, JD, MBA about things that every doctor or other patient-facing clinician should know about their insurance coverage, which can vary tremendously from policy to policy, and from insuranc...
Oct 28, 2024•32 min•Season 2Ep. 9
Physicians and other clinician defendants whose cases go to trial (roughly 8-10% of malpractice cases) usually have little understanding of the legal events and strategies involved, which naturally amplifies their anxiety. Today on the podcast, we'll continue to address these knowledge deficits. Decisions made about how cases proceed are usually made by considering how the 'optics' of a given case will look to a hypothetical jury -- but when trial begins, at jury selection and the voir dire, tha...
Sep 28, 2024•42 min•Season 2Ep. 8
In this episode, Dr. Pensa discusses 'strategic communication' in litigation with expert Matt Abrahams . Matt teaches strategic communication at Stanford Graduate School of Business and hosts the podcast, " Think Fast, Talk Smart. " He's also the author of the books "Think Faster, Talk Smarter" and "Speaking Out Without Freaking Out: 50 Techniques for Confident, Calm and Competent Presenting." We talk about the importance of communicating strategically in any setting, including the artificial se...
Aug 25, 2024•34 min•Season 2Ep. 7
"A World of Hurt: How Medical Malpractice Fails Everyone" is a new documentary produced by Emmy-nominated physician-filmmaker Dr. Mark Brady and two medical students, Alex Homer and Viknesh Kasthuri. After a year of private screenings and film festivals, this powerful piece was recently picked up by PBS after winning multiple awards. It is now free to watch online (links below). In under 27 minutes, this short documentary tells three stories: a plaintiff whose sister dies after a medical error; ...
Jul 18, 2024•26 min•Season 2Ep. 6
The phrase "nuclear verdict" strikes fear into the heart of any defendant - and today we're going to tackle it head on. We welcome Dusty Otwell, JD , medical malpractice defense attorney and Chief Risk Officer of UCACS, to the podcast to discuss “nuclear," "runaway jury," or aberration verdicts. These are jury awards to the plaintiff, given at trial, that well exceed predictions. They tend to make headlines, create fear among doctors and other providers, and lead other parties to dream of giant ...
Jul 11, 2024•32 min•Season 2Ep. 5
There is a wealth of research to support a positive effect of mindfulness on the mental health and overall well being of physicians and other clinicians. This is well documented in spheres like burnout, job satisfaction, and overall well being (sample references below). Today on the podcast we introduce mindfulness as a cognitive tool that can be useful in litigation preparation as well. Today's guest, Douglas Morgan, is a seasoned medical malpractice defense attorney who incorporates the teachi...
Jun 14, 2024•38 min•Season 2Ep. 4
Medical Boards (or state Departments of Licensure and Discipline) are charged with keeping the public safe from unskilled, impaired, or unscrupulous doctors (or other licensed clinicians, each of which has their own board). While this is an important and necessary role, it is also not uncommon for well-meaning or "innocent" doctors to become the subject of investigations due to complaints from patients, other doctors (including competitors), or from the Board itself. Malpractice litigation or ad...
May 07, 2024•48 min•Season 2Ep. 3
This month, we're exploring the topic of 'help-resistance' in physicians. Why do we acknowledge the need to maintain and optimize the health of our bodies, but scoff at doing the same for our minds or mental well-being? Why do support programs flounder from lack of participation? Why is the notion of even 'self-help' so foreign and...icky? In this 'listicast', Dr. Pensa explores the top ten(ish) reasons for help-resistance in physicians. This has practical implications as to why physicians often...
Apr 04, 2024•27 min•Season 2Ep. 2
In this first episode of Season 2, Dr. Pensa talks with attorney Saira Pasha , an EMR audit trail expert. What else besides the words in your chart does your electronic medical record track? Are 'secure messages' discoverable? (Spoiler: yes, they can be!) How can an audit trail help your case -- or hurt it? How does an audit trail expert 'read between the lines' of who's looking at what entries in the record, and when, and for how long? Take home points: The EMR creates a trail that tracks not o...
Mar 09, 2024•30 min•Season 2Ep. 1
Dr. Pensa tells the story of her own life after litigation in an interview with Dr. Mel Herbert. This is the last episode of Season One. But follow along -- a new season is in the works! We'll talk about topics at the intersection of litigation, coaching, risk, and medicine -- and how to stay human through all of it.
Feb 08, 2024•52 min•Season 1Ep. 14
Although you might expect life to go back to 'normal' as soon as the litigation process is complete, it often doesn't work that way. Lingering distress, if left unaddressed, can lead to behaviors like over-documenting or over-testing, avoidance of certain procedures or case types, PTSD symptoms, disillusionment, burnout, and career abandonment. In part one of 'Life After Litigation', Dr. Gita Pensa speaks with Tracy Sanson MD, Stacia Dearmin MD, and Marge Paccione, PhD, about their insights....
May 10, 2023•24 min•Season 1Ep. 13
In this special episode, Dr. Pensa has a conversation with attorney T. Marc Calvert about the criminal trial of RaDonda Vaught, a Vanderbilt nurse who was found guilty of negligent homicide due to a medication error. Attorney Calvert has specialized in medical malpractice defense for over thirty years, and brings a nuanced perspective to a case which has rocked the medical world since the verdict in March 2022. Some of the questions we discuss: Will we see more criminalization of adverse events ...
Apr 11, 2022•54 min•Season 1Ep. 12
Many listeners have sent in questions about litigation in this new era of COVID-19. They are infuriated after seeing advertisements from plaintiff's attorney firms already soliciting COVID-19 cases, while physicians and other front line health care providers risk our lives and the health of our families in an unprecedented crisis --when litigation should be the last thing we have to worry about. Physicians now wonder how protected will they be if their usual practice is disrupted, and there are ...
Apr 05, 2020•33 min•Season 1Ep. 11
In this episode, we're on the road to trial -- and talking about settlement opportunities that may come up along the way. Who makes the decisions about going to trial vs offering/accepting a settlement? What factors go into those decisions? What's a consent to settle agreement -- and what's the hammer clause that comes with it? If you're definitely headed to trial, how do you prepare -- practically and psychologically? And what can happen if there's a verdict against you and a judgment that exce...
Mar 13, 2020•1 hr 24 min•Season 1Ep. 10
"Every member of the family is involved in a lawsuit." -Dr Greg Henry Litigation often has a spillover effect on spouses/partners and families, whether or not the defendant physician acknowledges it. In this episode, I interview Dr. Claire Nicogossian, PsyD, a psychologist and clinical instructor in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Brown University ( www.MomsWellBeing.com ) We discuss common struggles that couples and families face during litigation, how to stay connected and c...
Jan 20, 2020•54 min•Season 1Ep. 9
In Part Two of 'Experts and Testiliars' we continue to explore the world of unethical medical expert witnesses and their impact on defendants and the litigation system. You'll hear a presentation of Dr. Pensa's own malpractice case, as well as verbatim expert witness testimony from her second trial (acted out brilliantly by Dr. Anand Swaminathan as the plaintiff's expert). We also discuss what physicians can do to help attorneys identify and disempower 'testiliars' during litigation, what 'stand...
Dec 14, 2019•1 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 8
In part one of this look at medical experts in malpractice litigation, we hear the story of Dr. M, a physician embroiled in a dramatic legal battle after the death of a patient, and his efforts to bring the medical expert in his case to justice. We speak more with Dr. Louise Andrew, MD JD, about the necessity and ethics of medical expert testimony, and hear the voices of physicians who have been defendants, plaintiffs, and experts themselves. And we examine the psychological impact that unethica...
Oct 30, 2019•48 min•Season 1Ep. 7
In this episode, we discuss the need for emotional, psychological, and practical preparation for your deposition. We hear from experts such as defense attorney Ryan Deady (of Barton Gilman, LLP) as well as Dr. Ilene Brenner, author of 'How to Survive a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit.' As always, you'll hear from physicians about their experiences as well. (Note: this is not concrete legal advice -- you need your lawyer for that. This is meant as a general guide to the process and what you might exp...
Sep 25, 2019•45 min•Season 1Ep. 6
In follow up to the fourth episode, which tells the story of Dr. J, a physician who died by suicide during medical malpractice litigation, this mini session highlights National Physician Suicide Awareness Day (NPSA Day) which falls on September 17th. This is during Suicide Prevention Month, and one week after World Suicide Prevention Day. Physicians have an increased risk of suicide over the general population; over 300 physicians die by suicide each year. I speak with Dr. Loice Swisher, co-foun...
Sep 11, 2019•9 min•Season 1Ep. 5
In this fourth episode, we first hear the story of Dr. J, an accomplished OB Gyn who died by suicide during litigation in the aftermath of the death of his patient. We then talk about barriers to physicians seeking help, and how peer support programs can act a a lifeline. And we talk to a psychologist with expertise in physician litigation about some techniques and strategies for coping with litigation stress. If you are in crisis, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255 is the...
Jul 24, 2019•41 min•Season 1Ep. 4
In this third episode, you'll hear the story of one tragic medical case and its legal aftermath, involving a physician who did everything right -- and yet winds up as a defendant in a high-stakes malpractice trial. More about author Dr. Pensa: doctorsandlitigation.com
Jun 15, 2019•20 min•Season 1Ep. 3
In the second episode of Doctors and Litigation: The L Word, we discuss the very first steps in litigation, starting with when you are given notice of a medical malpractice lawsuit. Experts Dr. Sara Charles, Dr. Ilene Brenner, and Dr. Louise Andrew lend their expertise; physician voices describe their experiences. More about author Dr. Pensa: doctorsandlitigation.com Topics discussed: The emotional impact of the first steps into litigation (and the intended effect from the plaintiff's attorneys)...
May 09, 2019•25 min•Season 1Ep. 2
