The Deposition


by Jarrod Shapiro, DPM
Joined practice July 2006 of
John K Throckmorton, DPM, PC
Lansing, Michigan

Good day and welcome again to our new resident colleagues! As an associate for another physician I´ve had many interesting opportunities which have been educational in a variety of manners. Recently, though, I suffered an experience that I´d rather NOT repeat again: the deposition.

Let me just start off and allay what I´m sure is the first thought to come to your minds: I´m not being sued. Within the first few weeks of starting practice I saw a 50 year old lady who had injured her left foot at work one month before seeing me by dropping a wooden pallet on her foot from a 10 foot height.

She didn´t suffer any fractures or lacerations at the time and no apparent compartment syndrome. However, she was complaining of severe sharp pain diffusely across her forefoot, primarily focused on her 1st and 2nd MTP joints. She´d already had a bone scan which showed uptake at her 1st MTP joint. On exam she had significant allodynia and was unable to actively move her toes. Otherwise, the exam and radiographs were normal. I diagnosed her initially with CRPS 1 and sent her immediately to a pain management specialist and physical therapy as part of my treatment plan (keep in mind, referrals to other specialists constitutes good patient care and practice building and spreads the malpractice risk.) Through the next 9 months she continued therapy and improved slowly, although she still has mild pain remaining.

Now, it turns out she decides to sue her insurance carrier who had apparently stopped paying her disability. As part of the suit I was deposed, as were two pain management experts for the prosecution and a CRPS expert for the defense. Apparently the crux of the case revolved around her diagnosis of CRPS, which the defense expert didn´t think she had.

During the deposition the lawyer for the prosecution asked me questions for about 35 minutes which went reasonably well. I tried to give the most truthful answers I could to the best of my ability. Then? I got hammered by the defense lawyer. In about 10 minutes it was established that I was in no way an expert in CRPS (which I´m not – that´s why I referred her to pain management in the first place!). For a few minutes I wondered what happened to my 7 years of school and residency training. Of course, that´s the job of these lawyers. Overall, it was not a positive event.

So, here are a few thoughts on my experience.

1.  You get paid to do the deposition. We charged about $500 for the hour. It sounds pretty good, but it´s hard-earned money. I´d rather be in an OR for the hour.

2.  The lawyers are very good at their jobs. Stay as far away from them as possible.

3.  I personally, won´t be doing any malpractice expert opinion work. Remember, if you do this kind of work and you go after other podiatrists then you´re a dog. Don´t do it.

4.  This situation is a great argument for professionally appearing documents. As I mentioned in an early editorial last year, my boss hand writes his notes, so I have to. For workman´s comp cases the notes are supposed to be dictated; some of mine were not and this was very unprofessional. I had to read aloud to the court reporter what I´d written. Not good.

5.  Treat every patient to the best of your ability and document everything.

Best wishes.



Jordan R. Stewart, DPM
PRESENT New Docs Editor
[email protected]