Advisory Group

Because the Advisory Group is keenly aware of the sensitive and personal nature of physicians’ reactions to the negative events that occur in practice, the Group has striven to maintain neutrality and has no conflicts of interest to report. We want you to know that the Advisory Group gives the highest importance to maintaining your confidentiality. While we monitor the number of visits to this site and its individual pages for statistical purposes, we assure you that individual visitors are not monitored or identified in any way. No one will send you any reply, add you to any mailing list, or contact you in any other way unless you request a response from one of our Advisory Board members. Please review our privacy policy for further information.


Advisory Group

Sara Charles, MD
Professor of Psychiatry (Emerita)
University of Illinois at Chicago

Gerri Donohue, MSN, APRN, ARM, FASHRM
Director, Risk Management Education
Physicians' Reciprocal Insurers

Theodore L. Passineau, JD, HRM, RPLU
Senior Risk Management Consultant
The Medical Protective Company

Jo Shapiro, MD
Division of Otolaryngology
Director, Center for Professionalism and Peer Support
Brigham and Women's Hospital

Larry Veltman, MD, FACOG
Risk Management and Perinatal Safety Consultant
Past Chair, ACOG Professional Liability Committee

Advisory Group Members (Emeriti)

Dawer Azizi, MHA, RN, BSN
Vice President of Operations, Medical Interactive Community
Manager of RM & Patient Safety, LAMMICO

Maureen Mondor 
Former Risk Management Consultant

Paul Frisch, JD (deceased)


About Physician Litigation Stress

In the interest of full disclosure, we offer the following information:

History: An Advisory Group of five volunteers (two physicians, two lawyers, and a nurse insurance company risk manager) established the website in March 2005. In the latest reporting period (November 1, 2013 - April 30, 2014) there was a total of 29,131, sessions with an average 161 sessions per day and 326 pageviews per day.

Philosophy: Stress is a normal response to involvement in an adverse event and the litigation that may follow. The website is intended to provide emotional and educational support during this period of exceptional stress. This support is designed to help physicians help themselves and mitigate the impact of stress so as to become better defendants and safer clinicians.

Goal: In most areas of the country, there are surprisingly few, if any, resources available to assist the newly sued physician. This website is designed to be a single point of contact where the physician can anonymously access authoritative, unbiased information regarding both the medical malpractice lawsuit process and the mental and emotional dynamics that often accompany entry into this process. As such, this website is unique. While the site offers general information regarding how and from whom to seek professional assistance when needed, it offers no specific legal or psychological advice, as this is the role and responsibility of the physician’s personal attorney, physician, and/or mental health professional.

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