Choosing
the Attorney Chairman and
the Members of the Medical
Review Panel
Once a request for review
has been timely filed with
the Division of Administration,
the Louisiana Patient's
Compensation Fund (the "PCF"),
will receive a copy of the
complaint and notify the
physicians of the request
for review. The PCF then
sends a letter to counsel
for the parties, if the
parties have legal counsel,
or directly to the parties
if no legal counsel is named.
That letter informs the
parties that they must mutualy
choose an attorney chairman
to chair the medical review
panel.
If an attorney chairman
is not chosen within two
years from the date the
request for review is filed,
then the PCF will notify
the parties that the case
will be dismissed within
90 days of receipt of the
letter. If the case is dismissed,
it is dismissed forever
and cannot be revived.
Usually, the attorneys
for the parties communicate
and agree upon the selection
of an experienced and unbiased
attorney chairman to run
the medical review panel.
Again, if the patient does
not have an attorney, the
attorney for the defendant
doctor will usually make
several suggestions of acceptable
attorney chairmen.
If the parties cannot mutually
agree on the selection of
an attorney chairman, then
they notify the PCF and
the Lousiana Supreme Court
will supply a list of attorneys
from which each party can
strike names until a mutual
selection can be agreed
upon. Most attorneys avoid
this striking process because
the attorneys on the list
supplied by the Supreme
Court do not usually have
experience with running
medical review panels and
the laws of medical malpractice
cases.
Once an attorney chairman
is selected, he will write
to the patient or his attorney
and provide a time period
for the patient to select
a physician to sit on the
medical review panel. If
the patient or his attorney
fails or refuses to make
a selection to the medical
review panel, then the attorney
chairman is legally empowered
to make that selection for
the patient.
Often, patients and their
attorneys are reluctant
to choose a member of the
medical review panel. The
reason for this reluctance
is that approximately 97%
of the medical review panels
rule in favor of the doctor
and against the patient.
Since the opinion of the
medical review panel and
the testimony of its members
is admissible at trial,
the defense will argue that
the patient's chosen representative
on the medical review panel
ruled against him.
Thus, the safer route is
for the patient not to make
a selection of their own
and to allow the attorney
chairman to make the selection
for him. That way, at trial,
the defense cannot argue
that the patient's representative
ruled against him.
After the patient's physician
representative is selected
to the medical review panel,
the defendant then makes
his selection. Once those
two physicians are picked,
then they get together and
select the third member
of the medical review panel.
Once the third member is
selected, then the medical
review panel is deemed to
be officially formed and
it will remain intact for
one year, unless one of
the parties extends that
year by filing a motion
with the court.
