Doctors and the Law - Paperback

by Stephen N. Rous M. D. (Author), Hiller B. Zobel (Ret ). (Author)

Terror blended with rage is the natural and inevitable reaction of any healthcare professional suddenly facing a malpractice claim. Even a doctor merely testifying as an ordinary witness or expert, can undergo acute feelings of uncertainty as to role and performance. This book is designed to educate, soothe, and encourage anyone entering the stormy seas of litigation. The authors of Doctors and the Law share the wisdom of an unlikely pair of friends: one a retired Justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court, the other a Surgeon/Urologist and Emeritus Professor. Hon. Hiller B. Zobel and Stephen N. Rous, MD have maintained a decades-long friendship while simultaneously pursuing their independent professional paths. In 1993, they first teamed up to produce the original version of this book in an effort to help inform and guide clinicians who find themselves needing to navigate the unfamiliar waters of the legal system. This second edition, provides similar material and incorporates current day challenges presented by the now ubiquitous presence of social media, mobile devices, and electronic health records. Their combined perspectives and anecdotal approach to the subject matter, make this book an essential read for anyone who finds themselves embroiled in a legal situation, or is simply interested in learning an insider's perspective of the inner workings of our justice system.

Author Biography

Stephen N. Rous, MD Dr. Stephen N. Rous is a graduate of Amherst College and New York Medical College, and he did his training in Urology as a Resident and Fellow at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. Dr. Rous is currently an Emeritus Clinical Professor of Surgery/Urology at Brown University Warren Alpert School of Medicine and, until 2016, he saw patients at its affiliated VA Hospital. He is also an Emeritus Professor of Surgery/Urology at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, and an Emeritus Professor and Chair of Urology at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. Dr. Rous is the author of several books, including co-author of the first edition of Doctors and the Law (1993). He has received many honors and awards including an Honorary Membership in the German Urological Association, and he has been honored by both the Mayo Clinic, where he trained, and by his alma mater, New York Medical College, for "outstanding contributions to urology." Currently, Dr. Rous lives in Virginia and sees patients at Langley Air Force Base Hospital. He is a Colonel, United States Army, Retired. Hon. Hiller B. Zobel (retired) After graduating from Harvard College, Hiller B. Zobel served in the United States Navy subsequently attending and graduating from Harvard Law School. He was an admiralty lawyer for eight years, specializing in personal injury defense trial. From 1967 to 1979 a professor at Boston College Law School for 12 years, and of counsel to two Boston law firms before serving as an associate justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court for 26 years. In addition to co-authoring the first edition of Doctors and the Law (1993), Judge Zobel wrote The Boston Massacre (1970, reissued in 1996). He has written numerous scholarly and popular articles on law, legal history, and the courts, subjects on which he has also lectured widely. Judge Zobel lives in Boston's North End.