Court TV Style Comes to the Convention

The gavel is coming down at the convention in March, with New York federal judge the Honorable Barbara Jones presiding and course director Lawrence Platt, MD, reporting the proceedings. In the style of Court TV, Dr Platt will welcome course attendees to 2 dramatic hours in a mock medical-legal courtroom where acting "defendants" will be grilled by the likes of real-life Los Angeles lead defense counsel David O'Keefe and leading Chicago plaintiff and personal injury lawyer Susan Loggans. Our AIUM Member Attorney James Shwayder, MD, JD, along with other well-respected members of the AIUM, Wayne Persutte, PhD, RDMS, Greggory DeVore, MD, and Roy Filly, MD, will play roles as defendants and expert witnesses. To complete the scenario, several course attendees will be chosen to serve as "jurors" to deliberate the charges alleged by the plaintiff.

Clearly we can expect this course to be exciting, particularly as the audience will not be the defendant. But, more importantly, the course will offer outstanding education. As we experience courtroom drama and witness the intensity of first-rate legal and medical minds hammering out answers to piercing questions, those of us who attend will gain valuable insight into the legal process and into the human issues at stake in medical-legal cases.

I personally know a little about the human issues. A couple of years into my career as a sonographer, before the advent of practice guidelines, I failed to observe that a fetus I scanned was missing an arm. Several months later, when the baby was born, her parents initiated legal action. Fortunately for me, the family decided not to pursue the case, but 20 years later, memory of that painful event, the sadness I felt, the complicated burst of shock and guilt, and my sense of exposure for "missing something" still resonate.

Over the past 2 decades, litigation involving ultrasound in obstetrics and gynecology has significantly increased. According to Dr Platt, ultrasound performance standards and guidelines developed by the AIUM and other organizations are the "key to prevention," but as we all know, even if you do everything right, you can still get sued and have to bear not only material costs but the huge emotional strain of enduring court proceedings. That issue-the stress of our colleagues who have been or are being sued-may be one we will better appreciate after spending a "day in court" with Dr Platt in San Diego.

"Court TV at the AIUM" is sure to stimulate rich discussion and offer insight into the nature of lawsuits, how they're filed, and, most importantly, how to prepare in case of such an event. This course should provide sonographers, physicians, and others with a great opportunity to really learn and benefit from the experience of their colleagues. And the course promises to be highly entertaining.

Look for "Court TV at the AIUM" on Friday, March 14, from 1:30 pm-3:30 pm.



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