West Virginia physician caught in legal net hooks lawyer, lands settlement

Another attorney hopes the case will make others in his profession think twice about trying to snag everyone nearby in malpractice actions.

By Tanya Albert, AMNews staff. Dec. 2, 2002.

West Virginia thoracic surgeon Saad Mossallati, MD, has a message for lawyers suing him -- or any other physician -- for medical malpractice: Do your homework or face the consequences.

He's not afraid to countersue if he believes the lawsuit against him isn't justified.

Dr. Mossallati last month successfully settled his frivolous lawsuit case against Wheeling, W.Va., lawyer William E. Parsons II. The physician pursued the case after he spent four years -- and his insurance company spent $81,000 -- defending a medical negligence and wrongful death case filed by relatives of a patient he never saw. The case against Dr. Mossallati was ultimately dropped.

The settlement reached with Parsons was for an undisclosed amount. All Dr. Mossallati can say is that it was "very substantial."

But the thoracic surgeon said the case wasn't about the money.

He hopes that his success story will lead more doctors to go after lawyers they believe wrongly named them in a medical malpractice lawsuit. Physicians say that frivolous malpractice lawsuits have contributed to rising insurance costs in West Virginia, one of a dozen states the American Medical Association has identified as being in the midst of a medical liability crisis.

"We all should be more active in looking after ourselves," Dr. Mossallati said. "I've had many phone calls from other physicians, and I tell them, 'If you think the case is totally baseless, sue them back.' "

Dr. Mossallati also hopes his countersuit -- a tactic that physicians do not often pursue -- garners the attention of lawyers. [...]