David Newman betrayed patients and emergency medicine

I remember that morning in January 2016 very well.  I opened up my twitter feed to find many people linking to an article that made me stop dead in my tracks.  The New York Post was reporting that Dr. David Newman had been accused of sexually assaulting a patient in his emergency department.  He was accused of giving the patient a dose of propofol and then sexually assaulting her. My initial reaction was denial and anger.  It wasn’t denial and anger that this happened but that it ever took place and that the media was reporting it before charges were filed.  I will admit my initial reaction was, “This must have been a psychiatric patient off their medications.  How can they publish this and drag his name through the mud before charges are filed!”  There was no possible way this could be true.  As an emergency physician, I imagined a scenario where a patient would falsely accuse me of something so terrible, and it shook me to my core. For those outside of emergency medicine, David Newman was a rock star in our field.    It seemed like every month he was speaking at a conference, talking on CME podcasts, or writing thoughtful articles in the lay press to help patients understand the medical system and calling for public health reforms.  He hosted a free podcast that changed my practice in several ways and helped to create a website that I use on a frequent basis to teach my learners the value of many interventions. Continue reading ... Your patients are ratin...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - Category: Journals (General) Authors: Tags: Physician Emergency Source Type: blogs