Medical Whistleblower Lawyer

What is a Medical Whistleblower?

A medical whistleblower is an individual, often a healthcare professional, who exposes unethical, illegal, or unsafe practices within the medical field. These courageous individuals play a crucial role in safeguarding patient safety and ensuring the integrity of healthcare systems. By reporting misconduct, such as fraud, abuse, or violations of medical standards, medical whistleblowers help to hold institutions and individuals accountable, ultimately promoting a higher standard of care and ethical behavior in the medical community.

What Statutes Protect Medical Whistleblowers?

California Health and Safety Code Section 1278.5: Protecting Medical Whistleblowers

Health and Safety Code Section 1278.5 is a crucial California statute that safeguards healthcare workers, including employees and physicians, from retaliation when they report deficiencies in the medical care system. The statute clearly states:

“It is the public policy of the State of California to encourage patients, nurses, members of the medical staff, and other healthcare workers to notify government entities of suspected unsafe patient care and conditions.” (Health & Safety Code Section 1278.5(a))

This law underscores California’s commitment to promoting transparency and accountability in healthcare by protecting those who speak out against unsafe practices.

What Type of Retaliation is Prohibited under 1278.5?

Retaliation can be of any type. Failure to renew a contract, hostile treatment in the workplace, failure to promote are obvious examples. An excellent list of more covert retaliation was prepared by the CMA (California Medical Association) and adopted by the California Supreme Court in the case titled, Shaw v. Superior Court (2017) 2 Cal.5th 983, [216 Cal.Rptr.3d 643, 393 P.3d 98,)

In Shaw, the California Supreme Court stated:

“According to the CMA [California Medical Association], examples of actions a hospital can take to suppress physician-whistleblowers or to retaliate against them are:

(1) underwriting the salary and/or practice expenses of a competing physician;

(2) establishing a medical care foundation and supporting its physicians with hospital funds;

(3) recruiting competing physicians to the community in the absence of a community deficit for that specialty;

(4) establishing a medical practice administrative service company for selected physicians and charging below market rates so that the doctor keeps a higher percentage of the collections and gains a competitive advantage;

(5) buying the medical building with the physician’s office and refusing to renew the physician’s lease;

(6) inducing primary care physicians to refer patients to the hospital outpatient facility for tests, bypassing the specialist’s office-based testing (e.g., imaging and cardiac tests);

(7) providing special scheduling priorities for hospital facilities;

(8) underwriting certain physicians and empowering them with control or influence over the peer review process;

(9) developing investment partnerships with selected physicians (surgery center, MRI center) that provide lucrative annual returns on investment (e.g., 50% return on investment (ROI) annually); and

(10) providing special equipment leasing arrangements for selected physicians with above market ROI.

California Whistleblower Protection Act (CWPA)

The California Whistleblower Protection Act (CWPA) protects state employees who report dangerous conditions or various violations of the law.  The CWPA is found at Government Code sections 8547 et seq.)  People who are protected may file a complaint with the State Personnel Board (SPB) concerning the improper personnel action.