Online Sources of Support

Medical and Specialty Societies

The American Medical Association website (www.ama-assn.org) is a superb resource for information on the current medical liability climate. There is a Medical Liability Reform page that reviews current AMA policy on the subject, as well as links to updates on national and state legislative activities. Some of these links are designated as restricted to AMA members.

• Medical Liability Reform—Now! provides a useful downloadable compendium of facts supporting liability reform and challenging arguments against reform. Users
  should check to clarify if they are viewing the latest version of the document.
  
  
• "Litigation stress: Being sued is personal as well as professional," by Amy Sorrel of American Medical News.
  

Many Specialty Societies have web-based materials that provide support for members who are involved in the litigation process, some of which are available to non-members. Physicians should search their own specialty society website for such materials. The public section of many specialty society home pages also provides updates on professional liability related to the specific specialty society. Examples include:

• The American College of Emergency Physicians (www.acep.org). Peer-to-peer
  counseling, a joint effort by the Wellness Section and the Medical Legal Committee, is available for members of the college involved in litigation.
  
  The Resource Document on litigation stress of the ACEP Medical Liability Committee is available for downloading.
  
  
• The American Academy of Family Physicians (www.aafp.org) provides public access to a series of articles related professional liability and malpractice stress such as "Coping with the Stress of Being Sued," by Chantal M.L.R. Brazeau from Family Practice Management.
  
  
• The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (www.acog.org) offers a CD-ROM for CME credit entitled “From Exam Room to Courtroom: Navigating Litigation & Coping with Stress” that is available for purchase. The 2009 ACOG Survey on Professional Liability is available for downloading. The college also offers litigation stress resources for members only.
  
  
• The American College of Surgeons (www.facs.org) offers access to the Bulletin of the American College of Surgeons that includes articles on litigation such as "Malpractice Litigation as a Disruptive Life Experience" by Sara Charles, MD. The college also publishes Patient Safety and Professional Liability resources, including a professional liability kit for members who have been sued.
  
  
• American College of Physicians (www.acponline.org) posts Medical Liability Stress related articles from among its publications. An example is "Stress of the lawsuit can put physicians at risk for another" by Deborah Gesensway.
  
  
• American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (www.aaos.org) offers a peer-to-peer counseling service for its members described in the article, "Support builds ‘bridge over troubled waters’ during lawsuit." Other Liability Stress related articles such as “The Liability Stress Syndrome” by Frank B. Kelly, MD, and Mark C. Gebhardt, MD, are listed and available on the website.
  
  
• Texas Medical Association (www.texmed.org) provides a number of resources related to the Stress of Malpractice Litigation including a CME program prepared by the TMA Committee on Physician Health and Rehabilitation, entitled, "Coping with Stress in the Practice of Medicine," that incorporates material on the specific stressor of malpractice litigation.