Dr. Frank is correct; asset protection costs money and can be expensive, especially if done well. However, for most physicians, it is money well spent.
Explore This Issue
ACEP Now: Vol 33 – No 04 – April 2014—Stephen F. Spontak, MD, ABEM
Homer Glen, Ill.
Pages: 1 2 | Single Page
One Response to “Good Asset-Protection Plans Expensive, but Essential for Emergency Physicians”
May 4, 2014
lbandrewI agree with Dr. Frank in his April article that verdicts in excess of judgement are fairly rare and that plaintiffs are unlikely to pursue them beyond a bit of posturing. However, I agree with Dr. Segan and Dr. Spontak that anyone living in the US in this day and age is somewhat naive if all of their assets are completely unprotected from creditors, and not only malpractice awardees.
Dr. Segan in his October and February articles recommended some very basic free steps that can be taken to obtain some measure of asset protection, and they are well worth the time involved to seek them out. We have enough anxieties already related to the practice of EM and the risk of litigation with its myriad of physical and emotional stressors. Why not reduce those that we can easily obtain? And if our assets are not well protected where we live, it may be money better spent obtaining a formal asset protection plan from a professional than to consider uprooting entire families and moving to a less litigious state or country, or one with more protections already in place.