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COPYRIGHT 2004 International Medical News Group
NEW ORLEANS -- Yes, you can start your own free clinic without getting sued or going into the red to support the venture, Dr. Mohan Nadkarni said at the annual meeting of the American College of Physicians.
Liability is the biggest anxiety for physicians who want to volunteer, but the idea that patients served by clinics sue more than other patients is a myth, said Dr. Nadkarni of the department of internal medicine at the University of Virginia, and founder of the Charlottesville (Va.) Free Clinic.
A 2003 national liability survey of 153 free clinics conducted by the National Association of Free Clinics (NAFC) round that patients who visit free clinics actually sue less often than those of higher socioeconomic status. Only seven claims were collectively brought against the clinics surveyed, and three were eventually dropped. Two are pending, and the other two settled for about $67,000, "well below the average payout for settlement," Dr. Nadkarni said. Data...
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