PROFESSIONMore competition pits doctor against doctorIn the Courts. By Tanya Albert, amednews staff. March 10, 2003. It's not only patients who are dragging physicians to the courthouse. Increasingly, lawsuits filed by colleagues are taking doctors out of the exam room and into the courtroom. Take, for instance, a recent defamation case that the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled can go to trial: Veronica Ravnikar, MD, v. Sergei Bogojavlensky, MD. Dr. Ravnikar, a reproductive endocrinologist, claims in court documents that Dr. Bogojavlensky, a gynecologist, bad-mouthed her to a patient. The patient told Dr. Bogojavlensky on her first visit to him that she was looking for a new gynecologist. She mentioned that she also planned to see Dr. Ravnikar. Dr. Bogojavlensky, according to court documents, responded: "Oh, she's dying of breast cancer. It's such a shame. She's a young woman." The patient said she planned to see Dr. Ravnikar anyway. According to the documents, Dr. Bogojavlensky then told the patient Dr. Ravnikar's condition was "terminal." Dr. Ravnikar heard about the alleged statements when the patient came to her office for her appointment, according to court documents. Dr. Ravnikar was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1995 and was treated successfully. Although Dr. Bogojavlensky had heard that Dr. Ravnikar had breast cancer, he had no reason to believe that she was terminally ill, court documents show. Dr. Ravnikar is suing for defamation of character, invasion of privacy, unfair competition and intentional interference with business relations. [...]Full text of American Medical News content is available to AMA members and paid subscribers.
Copyright 2003 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
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