Dallas Jury awards doctor $6.3 million in lawsuit against Pinnacle Anesthesia Consultants

by PegNews wire

DALLAS — A Dallas County jury has ordered a physicians' group serving Presbyterian Hospital to pay local doctor Neal Fisher $6.3 million in a defamation and breach of contract case.

Dr. Neal Fisher was a shareholder in Dallas-based Pinnacle Anesthesia Consultants, P.A., which provides obstetric anesthesiology services to Presbyterian Hospital. The suit alleges that although Pinnacle would advertise as being "in- network" for all major health care plans, it had in fact adopted a business plan of intentionally being "out-of-network" for its services. By billing out-of-network, Pinnacle collected higher revenues than it would have by matching patients with in-network doctors.

According to the lawsuit, Dr. Fisher repeatedly voiced concerns about the practice, but was rebuffed by Pinnacle, which subsequently accused him of abusing alcohol and drugs, and made false accusations about the doctor's administrative and medical abilities. Pinnacle then terminated Dr. Fisher's employment with the group.

In an attempt to prove the charges baseless, Dr. Fisher voluntarily submitted to drug and alcohol testing of samples of his blood and hair, through Presbyterian's own Impaired Physician Program. Though Dr. Fisher passed each test, Pinnacle neither apologized nor offered him his job back. The suit alleges that his lost job and damage to his reputation cost him millions in lost income.

"To see a doctor's good name and livelihood damaged in this manner is stunning," says Marty Rose of Rose Walker, L.L.P., in Dallas, who represented Dr. Fisher at trial. "With the jury's verdict, Dr. Fisher can begin the process of trying to rebuild his life and his practice, and we're grateful for that."

Source: Rose Walker LLP