Private equity firms are expanding into healthcare at an alarming rate. In the past 10 years, they have purchased more than 4,000 Women’s Health Clinics, and current estimates have the industry owning more than 10% of the United States’ dermatology market. In the past 5 years alone, private equity has invested more than $10 billion in medical practices. And, as they expand into healthcare, they’ve brought their ruthless business tactics with them.

The private equity business model is well-known: buy loads of fledgling businesses for cheap, group them together, frantically cut costs, and sell high to a bigger investment firm. Applying that model to healthcare not only results in substandard care, but it also results in a deprivation of constitutional rights.

I am primarily talking about mandatory arbitration clauses, an industrywide favorite amongst the private equity firms. Private equity attempts to use these clauses to cut business costs by drastically decreasing injured plaintiffs’ ability to receive just compensation from a jury caused by medical negligence.

In December 2019, Tomasik Kotin Kasserman secured an appellate victory in the Fifth District in a medical negligence case involving injuries suffered by a newborn child during labor and delivery. Recently, the Illinois Supreme Court denied the defendants’ petition for leave to appeal, solidifying the Fifth District’s unanimous decision in favor of the plaintiff, Crystal Williams.

On June 3, 2007, then-26-year-old Crystal, who was pregnant with twins, went into labor. Her OB/GYN, Dr. Bradley Tissier’s office, instructed her to go to St. Elizabeth’s hospital in Belleville, Illinois where medical staff would prepare a “double set-up” delivery, i.e. a delivery which involves a first team of doctors preparing the mother for vaginal delivery with a second team ready to perform an immediate cesarean section if difficulties arise during childbirth. Twin A was born without difficulty. Twin B (Jerrin), however, was positioned in a persistent transverse lie, meaning Jerrin’s head was to one of his mother’s sides and not towards the pelvis. A baby cannot be birthed vaginally when in transverse lie. But, instead of performing a C-section, Dr. Bradley Tissier attempted to rotate Jerrin into the vertex (head down) position, failed, and thereafter, ultimately delivered via footling breech (feet down) extraction. During the delivery, Jerrin’s umbilical cord became compressed, and as a result, he suffered serious, lifelong injuries.

Ms. Williams filed suit on behalf of herself and her son, Jerrin, against Dr. Tissier, his OB/GYN group, and St. Elizabeth’s Hospital for failure to perform a timely cesarean section. The hospital moved to dismiss the claim against it on the grounds that Dr. Tissier, the delivering doctor, was not an agent of the hospital and the trial court agreed. Ms. Williams appealed, and TKK co-founder and partner Timothy Tomasik argued the case on behalf of Ms. Williams before the Fifth District. Tomasik argued that a triable issue existed regarding whether Dr. Tissier was an apparent agent of St. Elizabeth’s Hospital. Tomasik highlighted evidence in the case that showed that: Dr. Tissier was listed as one of the hospital’s doctors on its web site listed; Dr. Tissier’s medical office sign listed the office as a St. Elizabeth’s office; the letterhead for Dr. Tissier’s office identified him as a doctor who provided care to patients at “St. Elizabeth’s Medical Park;” and multiple documents, including consent forms and prescription forms, given to Ms. Williams regarding the care and treatment she received from Dr. Tissier, stated that Dr. Tissier, his medical practice, and his group were located at “St. Elizabeth’s Medical Park.” Tomasik also pointed out to the Fifth District that none of the extensive consent forms signed by Ms. Williams contained Dr. Tissier’s name, and these forms led Ms. Williams to believe that Dr. Tissier was an employee of St. Elizabeth’s.

By Tim Tomasik

Everyone expects to receive quality medical care when they see a doctor or go to the hospital, but one aspect of medical treatment that is often overlooked is the manner in which doctors interact with patients. In many cases, overworked doctors may feel that they do not have the time to offer a kind word to their patients and give them the extra emotional attention that lets them know that their needs are being met. However, a recent study has demonstrated the importance of compassion, and a doctor who neglects to provide their patients with the proper care and attention may actually be causing them harm.

Study Finds That Compassion From Doctors Is Important For Patient Health

Some doctors have been known to experience “burnout” after many years of providing medical care to patients. Two doctors at Cooper University Health Care recently conducted a study to address this and find a way to help improve both doctor well-being and patient care. In their new book Compassionomics: The Revolutionary Scientific Evidence that Caring Makes a Difference, they describe how they found that when doctors and other health care providers take the time to connect with their patients emotionally, it not only improved patient outcomes, but it also decreased overall medical costs. In fact, the study even found that doctors who took extra time to demonstrate compassion felt that they had more overall time to care for patients.

By Lindsay Proskey 

Tort reform legislation requiring Kentuckians to submit medical malpractice claims to a review panel of three physicians before they can file lawsuits was recently struck down by the Kentucky Supreme Court for violating the state constitution. 

Tort reform efforts aim to reduce the ability of victims to bring tort litigation or to reduce damages they can receive. Kentucky state Sen. Ralph Alvarado (a practicing physician and lawmaker) has sponsored several pieces of legislation, including the Medical Review Panel Act, to deter plaintiffs from suing healthcare professionals.  

There is an insidious, silent killer in the United States – one that patients are often oblivious to, doctors and hospitals refuse to talk about, and is now considered the third leading cause of death in the U.S., placing it just below cancer and heart disease. In total, it claims anywhere from 250,000 to 400,000 deaths per year, yet there is no system in place to effectively track or prevent these deaths. Even more disturbing is that this killer – otherwise known as medical malpractice  – occurs at the hands of those who are supposed to heal.

What You Do Not Know Can Hurt You

Sick people go to hospitals to get better, but hundreds of thousands will never leave. Victims of poorly coordinated care, preventable infections, system failures, falls, or any number of other, preventable causes, these patients will die a wrongful death at the hands of the doctor, nurse, or surgeon treating them. No one – not even their family – may fully understand the death because those same system failures that allowed the death are often used to cover up its true cause and nature. And therein lies one of the major contributing factors to this American epidemic.