Delaware Attorney Ben Schwartz explains that the defense of criminal cases for physicians, nurses, and healthcare providers is different from the defense of other criminal cases.

Hi, I am Ben Schwartz,

I just want to take a moment and talk about Delaware Criminal Defense Lawyers for doctors, physicians, nurses, and other healthcare providers. In my office, we have a department of criminal defense lawyers, I am one of them. Some of the other attorneys that are handling criminal defense cases currently include Bill Deely and Matt Stiller and some of the other attorneys as well.

The defense of criminal cases for physicians, nurses, and healthcare providers is different from the defense of criminal cases for others. The reason for that is because, when you have a healthcare provider with a criminal arrest or a criminal indictment, the case becomes like an onion. So, the first thing we try to do is try to manage the PR. We try to manage the public relations relating to the arrest. We have had numerous cases where our clients do not get their faces in the newspaper. Do not get their names dragged through the mud at the time they are arrested and that is a major benefit because an arrest can put a doctor out of business and what you must understand is that the standard for an arrest is probable cause.

You know just because a judge issued a warrant based upon one-sided facts or one-sided testimony may establish probable cause. But it does not establish guilt. It does not mean that the defendant, the physician. or the nurse who is accused actually did anything wrong. Unfortunately, it can be a practice ender if it gets out and so in our criminal cases where we represent a doctor or a nurse or someone in the medical profession what we try to do is get the police or the arresting agency not to issue a press release not to put it out there in the public media for everyone in the community to find out about it.

There is nothing wrong with doing that it is something that we like to do in our cases because we do not want any publicity that we don’t have in a lot times the police and the prosecutors agree with us that it is not right to publicize the arrest of a physician, it is not right to publicize the arrest of a medical provider when proof beyond reasonable doubt has not come into existence yet. When they have not had their day in court. When they have not had their due process of a court hearing.

Another reason why the criminal defense of healthcare providers is different from your standard or routine criminal case is that when you are a physician or healthcare provider you are in an employment relationship may be with a hospital or with a practice group and even if you are not in a relationship in employment relationship you may be a physician who has hospital admitting privileges and so you are going to either have employment issues or you are going to have issues before the Medical Executive Committee and you may have a hearing through the MEC to determine if your privileges are curtailed or if your privileges are revoked.

Also for medical treatment providers there are issues with the national practitioner data bank so for example if you are a doctor you are arrested due to something that may have happened at your hospital and the hospital MEC opens an investigation if you resign your privileges while under investigation you may unintentionally create a reporting duty for the hospital to report the investigation to report the resignation to the NPDB another thing that comes up in the criminal defense cases for our physician clients in our medical treatment provider clients is the duty to report to the Division of Professional Regulation so there are duties in Delaware for licensed medical providers there are duties to report other medical providers.

Their duties to self-report and so you need to have an attorney who can give you good solid advice on your duty to report in any event these are some of the issues that come up in the defense of criminal cases involving doctors, surgeons, physicians, nurses, chiropractors, all medical providers and so if you are a medical treatment provider and you are facing criminal charges or facing an arrest indictment or you have been called for questioning or if you have been contacted by an investigator from DPR we want you to contact us as soon as possible and get a consultation with one of our criminal defense attorneys who can help you protect your rights.

I am attorney Ben Schwartz with the law firm Schwartz and Schwartz. If you have questions send me an email at ben.schwartz@schwartzandschwartz.com or use our contact us page.

Thanks for watching.