It’s difficult for doctors to prevail in defamation lawsuits against patients who post nasty online reviews. It’s not impossible. Just difficult. To prevail, the doctor must demonstrate the statement was false, disseminated to an audience, and damaged reputation. Finally, if the court rules it was not a false statement, just an opinion, the doctor will ...

A medical group sends over a “standard” agreement. Buried mid-paragraph is one sentence that could turn a routine credentialing hiccup into a personal bankruptcy event. I’m talking about indemnification language. Harmless at first glance. Radioactive in practice. What is indemnification? Indemnification is a contractual obligation where one party (the indemnitor) agrees to compe...

Physicians are territorial with honorifics. A patient hears “Dr. Smith” and silently fills in the rest—medical school, residency, board certification. That assumption sits at the center of a fresh federal ruling in California. On September 19, 2025, a federal judge in the Central District of California upheld the state’s long-standing restriction on using “doctor”/“Dr.” in ... <...

The following request occasionally pops up. “You took care of my wife. She recently passed away. Can I have a copy of her records?” HIPAA survives death. For 50 years. The HIPAA Privacy Rule protects the individually identifiable health information about a decedent for 50 years following the date of death of the individual.  This ...