PROFESSIONPhiladelphia Flyers hockey player sues team, doctor over care of injuryEx-NHL star, team will square off in a rare medical malpractice case against the team physician.By Tanya Albert, amednews staff. May 20, 2002. A professional hockey player is taking his former team physician and the team's owners to court, accusing the doctor of medical malpractice and the team and the doctor of fraud. Dave Babych, who played with the Philadelphia Flyers in the late 1990s, claims that the team physician in April 1998 told him his foot injury was "more of a bone bruise than a broken bone, so it could heal on its own," according to court documents.
About 10 days later, he said, he got an injection in his foot, laced up his skates and went out on the ice before the season's first playoff game. But he still felt pain, so he went back to the locker room and removed his skate. He told the coach he couldn't skate even with the injections. According to the court documents, Babych said team physician Arthur Bartolozzi, MD, an orthopedic surgeon, suggested another injection so he wouldn't be able to feel his foot during the game. "I asked Dr. Bartolozzi if my foot would be 'all right' and Dr. Bartolozzi told me that my foot could not get hurt any more," Babych said in court documents. "Coach [Roger] Neilson said you got to play." Babych said he played in the next four games. In his lawsuit, the former NHL player claims the decision to let him play led to a career-ending injury.
Suit seeks $2 million in lost wages.
Dr. Bartolozzi's attorney, John A. Talvacchia, said Babych's fracture healed normally, pointing out that Babych went on to play the next year with the Flyers and the Los Angeles Kings. In the 1999-2000 season, he played briefly in Europe. "The doctor's position is that he did everything within the standard of care," Talvacchia said. In addition to accusing Dr. Bartolozzi of malpractice, Babych claims the Flyers and those they employed or contracted with gave him false and misleading information about his damaged foot. He said they encouraged him to play knowing it would cause permanent harm. A trial is set for July seeking $2 million in lost wages and an unspecified amount of damages. From a medical perspective, this case is no different than other medical malpractice cases, said Babych's attorney, Tim McIlwain. "It's one thing for a doctor to look at a foot and miss something," McIlwain said. "But he looked at it and told him it was bruised, a misrepresentation. If you're an athlete and you're a tough guy and a doctor tells you it's a bone contusion, what are you going to do? Play." Babych joins several other professional athletes who have brought suits against their team physicians.
But although it may be more stressful to treat highly paid athletes whose careers depend on their health, sports law experts say professional athletes have brought relatively few malpractice cases against team doctors. "It's not easy to show that a physician did not follow the standard of care," said Mark Conrad, who teaches sports law at Fordham University's school of business. "Engaging in an athletic event, athletes assume risk." Also, athletes are likely to get good medical care at the professional level because the team has money to spend on physicians, and athletes have money for second and third opinions from their own physicians, Conrad said. "The stakes are clearly higher." ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:Case at a glanceDave Babych and Diana Babych v. Philadelphia Flyers, Comcast Corp. Inc., Arthur Bartolozzi, MD, et al. Venue: Superior Court of New Jersey Law Division, Atlantic County
Copyright 2002 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
|
Featured stories     
« Prev
1
2
3
4
5
6
Next »
Current topicsMost-viewed
This weekUnspent war funds eyed to avoid years of Medicare doctor pay cuts Rite Aid clinics place new twist on "doc-in-a-box" Get our email alertsUse our one-step registration. Learn more Your information will not be shared. Privacy policyColumns and series
From the vaultQuotable"Our goal really is to provide the right care for patients at the right time. Not too much and not too little." Steven Weinberger, MD, co-author of a list developed by the American College of Physicians of 37 clinical situations in which screenings and medical tests provide little or no benefit |
|||||||||
SHARE
