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Doctor wins $30 million from hospital in slander lawsuit

The South Carolina facility is seeking a reduction of the jury award.

By Tanya Albert, amednews staff. Jan. 27, 2003.

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A South Carolina internist's court fight against a former employer he accused of slandering his reputation and making it difficult for him to work again as a physician paid off big in December 2002 when a jury awarded him more than $30 million.

The award is believed to be the largest jury verdict in the history of Berkeley County, S.C.

"It's nice getting validation from your fellow citizens," said Bruce S. Skinner, MD, who sued Trident Medical Center, Charleston, S.C., in January 2000. "I'm just delighted that the legal system worked."

Dr. Skinner set up an outpatient, primary care practice in one of the medical center's clinics in 1998 with the understanding that he would work in a different office after three months. But he was fired less than four months after he started.

The internist told a jury that the medical center kept the only copy of a list of more than 1,300 patient names and addresses he had spent years building, preventing him from contacting his patients. Dr. Skinner also said that a former employee sabotaged his reputation by telling patients she didn't know where he was located. He also said the former practice manager told people he had stolen equipment and physically destroyed the office.

Dr. Skinner, 51, said he tried to find work elsewhere but could not.

After a week-long trial and about four hours of deliberations just before Christmas, the jury awarded Dr. Skinner:

• $250,000 for his patient list wrongfully being taken.
• $10 million for the hospital's negligent supervision of an employee who slandered him.
• $20 million for defamation and slander that led to his inability to get a job ($10 million was awarded for actual damages; the other $10 million was awarded as punitive damages).

"The jury said it understands that reputation is important," said Gregg Meyers, the Charleston attorney who represented Dr. Skinner.

Trident has asked the Berkeley County judge that heard the case to overturn the jury's verdict or to reduce the amount of the jury award.

"This verdict is outrageous, and we will definitely appeal it," Trident said in a statement. "This is one of the primary reasons that health care providers are having difficulty with their liability insurance coverage and one of the leading reasons that health care costs are skyrocketing across the country."

Meyers said he thought chances were good that the jury decision and award would stand. The judge is expected to hear the appeal in the next few weeks.

Dr. Skinner now works in a law firm once a week reviewing medical malpractice lawsuits.

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