Description

In this special episode, Dr. Pensa has a conversation with attorney T. Marc Calvert about the criminal trial of RaDonda Vaught, a Vanderbilt nurse who was found guilty of negligent homicide due to a medication error.

Attorney Calvert has specialized in medical malpractice defense for over thirty years, and brings a nuanced perspective to a case which has rocked the medical world since the verdict in March 2022. Some of the questions we discuss:

• Will we see more criminalization of adverse events and medical error after this trial?
• Will malpractice insurance cover the costs of a criminal defense?
• What is the institutions's role in this error, and why are they not bearing more responsibility?
• What might happen to safety culture and the self-disclosure of error in the wake of this verdict?
• What lessons should we take away from this terrible and tragic event?