Like many Americans, I am interested in who will be President in 2016. At this time, most of that interest is in seeing who will emerge as the Republican nominee. One candidate – Ben Carson – is a former pediatric neurosurgeon. Leaving aside political views, when I heard that Dr. Carson was the first surgeon to successfully separate twins joined at the head, I was impressed. People who rise to that level in any profession have serious ability, and from my research into Dr. Carson, it appears he was by and large an excellent neurosurgeon.
I know, from working in the field of medical malpractice, that even very good surgeons typically have claims made against them for malpractice. This is particularly true for high-risk areas of practice, like OB-GYNs, cardio-thoracic surgeons, and neurosurgeons like Dr. Carson.
I also know that just because a doctor has had a claim made against him or her, that doesn’t make that person a “bad” doctor. And oftentimes, claims are made that end up being dismissed, or settled for some small sum of money. These decisions are made by the attorneys for both the doctors and the injured person, and oftentimes represent the frank economics of the situation, including the likelihood of a successful outcome at trial.
So when I read that Dr. Carson has had multiple claims of malpractice against him during his practice, I know that it doesn’t really impact my opinion of the candidate. But I worry that folks less knowledgeable about the realities of malpractice litigation will unfairly attach too much weight to this claims history.
From my read of the claims alleged, there was only one that I thought was a fairly clear indication that he should have done something that he didn’t. In one case, had he reviewed a pre-operative MRI he would have known that the surgery he ended up doing would not solve the problem. Essentially, because he didn’t read the MRI, he did an unnecessary surgery.
Other claims involve the clinical judgment of a doctor who, most folks will have to admit, is only trying to help the patient he is treating. Such claims are very difficult to prevail on.
Dr. Carlson’s litigation history, then, is not particularly concerning for me. If anything, his previous neurosurgical career is impressive in my mind, and also a stark reminder that there are lots of different types of intelligence and aptitude. One type of success (neurosurgery) does not always equate with another (being President).
If you have a say in who the Republican nominee for president should be, or if Dr. Carson secures the nomination, if you have a vote in who will be president in 2016, there are many factors to consider. But I would caution using Dr. Carson’s past litigation history against him.
