"Failure to Communicate" - RSNA 2009 Mock Jury Trial Preview

(CHICAGO) - This year's RSNA 2009 will focus on a special session, specifically in the area of medicolegal issues in radiology. Jonathan Berlin MD MBA from Northwestern University will moderate and lead a "Mock Jury Trial" to illustrate and teach the fine points of malpractice issues in the field.

Dr. Berlin will address the following as cited in the RSNA news bulletin:
Has a radiologist who detects possible lung cancer on a patient's X-ray and issues a written report noting the finding and recommending a CT scan adequately fulfilled his responsibility? Or is he obligated to verbally communicate the findings to the referring physician—or the patient?

That was the central question in a malpractice lawsuit filed several years ago by the family of a 55-year-old Chicago man who died of lung cancer about a year after the radiologist recorded the suspicious finding in the man's radiology report but did not verbally communicate it to the referring physician.

The case, whose outcome has already been decided in court, will also be the subject of a mock jury trial to be presented Sunday, Nov. 29, at RSNA 2009. (Listen In to Dr. Berlin discuss the RSNA 2009 Mock Jury Trial.)

Leonard Berlin, M.D., who organized and participated in the last RSNA mock trial five years ago, will do so again and serve as the moderator for the case focusing on the "failure to communicate," which is increasingly becoming a major source of lawsuits against radiologists. "It continues to be a hotly debated subject in courtrooms," he said.

Dr. Berlin's son, Jonathan Berlin, M.D., M.B.A., who portrays the radiologist defendant, said it's critical to spotlight communication—or lack of it—because it hits so close to home for so many radiologists.

"In daily practice it is often difficult to communicate results to referring physicians in real time," said Dr. Jonathan Berlin, associate professor of radiology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Evanston, Ill. "Referring physicians may be out of town or unavailable, and in such cases communication can be problematic."

LOCATION: The RSNA mock jury trial, to be held in Room S100, will begin at 10:30 a.m. and the verdict will be announced at about 1:30 p.m. A discussion of the case and a Q&A with the audience will follow.

WHO: Participants include presiding judge, retired Cook County Judge Stuart A. Nudelman; defense attorney, Timothy Nickels, J.D., senior partner at Swanson Martin & Bell in Chicago; and plaintiff's attorney, Thomas Demetrio, J.D., senior partner at Corboy and Demetrio in Chicago. Expert witnesses will be radiologists Richard Chesbrough, M.D., from Bloomfield Hills, Mich., and Michael Raskin, M.D., from Tamarac, Fla.

RELATED INFORMATION: Leonard Berlin is also among the presenters of the RSNA 2009 refresher course, "Malpractice Minefields in Radiology: Mammography, Interventional Radiology, and Failure to Communicate." Other presenters include Robert A. Schmidt, M.D., and Robert L. Vogelzang, M.D.

For more information, please visit the RSNA 2009 Website @ http://rsna2009.rsna.org