Lufthansa’s new selling point: "There is a doctor on board"

My first thought was, “That would be a great deal! Where do I sign up?” I fly ever so often and would help in an emergency anyway, so why not get compensation for it?

Then reality set in, and I considered the medmal risk. Good Samaritan laws protect doctors from being sued if they are just trying to help in an emergency, but the law is voided if the doctor is paid. If I get frequent flyer miles or gifts for “volunteering” my services, am I being paid? Would that mean I am legally liable? In Europe, my guess is no, but in sue-happy USA, I would not risk it without guarantees.

At a lecture on flight medicine, the lecturer told a story about a physican who was sued for volunteering to help on a flight. It was a patient who was having an asthma attack and eventally died in hospital. They sued the docs at the hospital, so they threw him in like they often do. He eventually was dropped, but he had to lay out expenses to defend himself and travel to the lawsuit site. I wouldn’t volunteer myself on a flight, on the beach, in church or anywhere in this sue-crazy society.

Non-doctor here…
Could you not just enroll in the program and practice “conservative” medicine in case of an emergency? Obviously if you try to perform an in-flight thoracotomy and botch it you would be a target for a lawsuit, but what if you merely provide stabilization until more help arrives?

I didn’t realize you could be sued for refusing to operate in situations where you felt you were not capable of doing the job correctly. I read an article a woman in North Carolina who died in the hospital because no neurosurgeons would operate because they considered the surgery too high risk and were afraid of getting sued if it turned out badly. Can you get sued for not doing an emergency surgery? What if the specific care the patient needs is something you haven’t had experience with since your residency 20 years ago. Surely the lawyers don’t think you should try it anyway?

From reading all this, isn’t it sad the physicians can’t offer medical aid – on the road, in the air, on a ship – without fear of lawsuit? I would think that the general population would welcome any type of help whatsoever, but these professionals will hold back for fear of the consequences of their help? What type of society do we live in?

Jim Sokolove. Though he doesn’t actually sodomize. Hes a figure on TV who outsources plaintiffs when they call him. He makes his money from the referrals. And from the fact that his wife makes a fortune as the owner of “Stephanies” restaurant on Newbury Street in Boston. Docs should really boycott that place. I actually diud my residency with his nephew, who believe it or not was a cool guy, despite his Auschwitz like last name.

1) Lufthansa carries insurance to indemnify you in event of a claim.
2) Today, the first SIX advertisements are for medical malpractice attorneys!! What give’s! You are worried about providing emergency medical care over the Atlantic, and you have 6 ads for malpractice attorneys on the same page. You guys need a course in risk management. The risk isn’t on an airplane, its ON THIS WEBSITE!