There are various approaches to dealing with the stress of litigation. The most important, after taking steps to insure a defense team is in place, is to identify your personal sources of support and renewal.

For example, sharing the fact of the lawsuit with spouse, counselor or clergy provides a protected mechanism for offloading the feelings engendered by the case, and is a way of getting valuable feedback on how you are coping. Sharing is also possible with sympathetic colleagues, as long as the facts of the case and identifying information are not divulged.

Contact with a peer who has “been there” and survived can be life and career affirming. Educating yourself about the legal process, mastering the details, and learning the legal strategies involved in your case, and practicing successful approaches to stress can begin to restore a sense of control over the situation (litigation) which is otherwise so alien to our sensibilities and daily operations as physicians and healers.

This year a multi-committee collaboration has begun within ACEP in order to address the needs of members with respect to malpractice litigation stress. The Medical Legal, Well-Being, and Academic Affairs committees have been assigned objectives, including the development of a centralized, web-based clearinghouse of educational materials and resources on litigation stress; the further development of a network of member peer counselors who have experienced litigation stress, and working with the Education Committee to develop CME specific to the issue of litigation stress as a way of increasing awareness of principles and resources available to members on this issue.

If you have suggestions of resources on litigation stress management, if you would like to consider serving as a peer counselor, or if you can contribute to the effort in any way, please contact Marilyn Bromley, ACEP’s Director of Practice Management at mbrombley@acep.org.

References

1. Editorial, Medical liability: Lawsuit chances take a toll, AMNews Sept 6, 2010, www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2010/09/06/edsa0906.htm, referencing Kane,CK, Medical Liability Claim Frequency: A 2007-2008 Snapshot of Physicians, AMA Center for Economics and Health Policy Research, Aug 2010, http://www.ama-assn.org/ama1/pub/upload/mm/363/prp-201001-claim-freq.pdf accessed 5/24/2010.
2. Brown TW, McCarthy ML, Kelen GD et al., An epidemiologic study of closed emergency department malpractice claims in a national database of physician malpractice insurors , Acad. Emerg. Med. 2010; 17:553-60.
3. Andrew LB ACEP News April 2012 www.acepnews.com/news/news-from-the-college/single-article/a6f98438af5b4b13cad3b4ada1b62ea5.html?tx_ttnews[tt_news]=1209 accessed 5/21/12.
4. Jena, et al, Malpractice Risk According to Physician Specialty, N. Engl. J. Med .2011; Aug 11 365:629-36
5. Seabury S, et al., Defense Costs of Medical Malpractice Claims; N. Engl J. Med., 2012 Apr 5; 366(14):1354-1356
6. Jena, et al., Outcomes of Medical Malpractice Litigation Against US Physicians Archives of Internal Medicine May 14 2012.
7. Andrew, LB ACEP News April 2011 www.acepnews.com/news/news-from-the-college/single-article/a6f98438af5b4b13cad3b4ada1b62ea5.html?tx_ttnews[tt_news]=1209 accessed 5/21/12.