There is potentially one good thing to come out of the Republican plan to reform (excuse me, to

repeal and replace) the Affordable Care Act and that is malpractice reform. The reform would

only apply to Medicare, Medicaid and insurance subsidized by the Affordable Care Act. The

change would be to impose limits to medical malpractice lawsuits and some product liability

claims. There would be a $250,000 limit on “noneconomic damages,” which include compensa-

tion for pain and suffering, though states could set different limits.

Not surprisingly Democrats via plaintiffs’ attorneys, are opposed because it would take rights

away from people served by these Federal Programs. Republicans say that malpractice limits

would reduce health costs and save taxpayers billions of dollars. Who is correct? Well the Con-

gressional Budget Office, which was touted by the Democrats as the ultimate authority when the

Republican health plan was released, estimates that this change would result in reducing the fed-

eral budget deficit by almost $50 billion dollars over 10 years. The budget office states that there

would be a slight decrease in in the use of diagnostic tests and other services that are only done to

reduce exposure to malpractice lawsuits.

Whether this is true or not, it is hard to justify using the Congressional Budget Office as the ulti-

mate authority only when it suits your purpose. Unfortunately, one of our local Congressman,

Jamie Raskin, Democrat from Maryland, is leading a charge against this bill. The non-economic

damages cap in Maryland medical malpractice cases in 2017 is $785,000 and will continue to

rise. There is no cap on economic damages. Does he know that California, arguably the most

liberal state, has long had a $250,000 cap on noneconomic damages? The bill would also protect

physicians from being named in a lawsuit against a manufacturer for prescribing a drug or medi-

cal device approved or licensed or cleared by the FDA. Physicians have often been brought in as

extra bodies in suites against multi-million dollar corporations to place added pressure for these

companies to settle but at great monetary and emotional expense for the physician to defend one-

self.

But let’s get real. The only reason Democrats are opposed to this bill is that would limit the con-

tingency fees that lawyers can charge for representing plaintiffs. Of all the special interests

groups that the Democrats could choose from they had to settle on plaintiff attorneys? Interest-

ingly, even though the American Medical Association is behind this bill, the Advanced Medical

Technology Association, which represents device makers is against it. They don’t want physi-

cians to be shielded from liability because it would just take away an often sympathetic defendant

compared to them.

I have always been skeptical regarding the burden of malpractice cost on the overall health care

system and it is probably overstated. However, if California can set limits and I have never heard

that patients do not have recourse to sue nor is there a lack of attorneys waiting to assist, and the

Congressional Budget Office believes there may be some real savings; then, the only objections

comes down to less money for plaintiff attorneys. What could be wrong with ambulance chasers

having more money and prominence? Two words: John Edwards.

May 2017 Volume 21, Issue 5

GW Medicine Notes A Monthly Publication of the GW Department of Medicine

From the Chairman

Dr. Robert Kelly, CEO placed the follow-

ing obituary in the Tampa Times on

behalf of all of us here at the MFA:

The GW MFA family mourns the tragic

loss of Roy Santarella, our former interim

CEO. We owe a debt of gratitude for his

extraordinary leadership in a very chal-

lenging time in our organization’s histo-

ry. Although he joined us here in D.C. for

a little more than a year, the changes

that he instituted will endure and his

legacy will be felt for many years to

come. On behalf of our hospital and

medical school partners, we send our

love and support to his family and thank

them for sharing Roy and his many tal-

ents with us. He will be greatly missed.

After leaving the MFA in January, Roy

developed an advanced form of cancer

that progressed very quickly leading to

his passing on April 17 at the age of 63.

He is survived by his wife, Joan; son,

Ryan and daughter, Devin Rankin. In

lieu of flowers, the family asks you make

a donation in Roy’s honor to Moffitt

Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida.

Alan G. Wasserman, M.D.

Sad News

SAVE THE DATE

END-OF-THE-YEAR PARTY

FRIDAY, JUNE 9th

RITZ CARLTON HOTEL

Department of Medicine May 2017 Grand Rounds

Medicine Team Contacts

Page 2 GW Medicine Notes

WHITE TEAM (202) 715-5669 YELLOW TEAM (202) 715-6041 GREEN TEAM (202) 715-6062 RED TEAM (202) 715-6039 BLUE TEAM (202) 715-6156 SILVER TEAM (202) 715-6040 PURPLE TEAM (202) 715-6042 GOLD TEAM (202) 715-6044

ADMITTING RESIDENT 741-0161 pager

Resident Lecture Series May 2017 Noon Conference

MAY 1 “Levels of Care– Part 2”- Dr. Christina Prather

MAY 2 “Wound Care Part 2”- Dr. Freba Farhat

MAY 3 GME

MAY 4 Medicine Grand Rounds

MAY 5 TBD

MAY 8 Geriatrics– Dr. Christina Prather

MAY 9 Mortality & Morbidity

MAY 10 “Hyperthermia”- Dr. Jalil Ahari MAY 11 Medicine Grand Rounds

MAY 12 Chairman’s Rounds

MAY 15 “NOACs”- Dr. Kavita Natrajan

MAY 16 Allergy Board Review– Dr. Jennifer Kannan MAY 17 Chairman’s Rounds

MAY 18 Medicine Grand Rounds

MAY 19 MS– Dr. Ted Rothstein

MAY 22 “Catheter Complications”- TBD

MAY 23 Cardiac Stress Testing– Steve Robie

MAY 24 GME Resident Appreciation Day

MAY 25 Medicine Grand Rounds

MAY 26 “Intro to Structural Heart Disease”- Dr. Christian

Nagy MAY 29 No Conference– Memorial Day

MAY 30 TBD MAY 31 “Breast Cancer”- Dr. Holly Dushkin

MAY 4 Irene Tamagna Endowed Lecture

“Blood Pressure Control - Shouldn't it

be Simple?"

Deepak Bhatt, MD

Executive Director of Interventional

Cardiovascular Programs

Brigham and Women's Hospital Heart and

Vascular Center

MAY 11 Hy Zimmerman Endowed Lecture

“Advances in Liver Transplantation”

Lynt Johnson, MD

Robert Coffey Professor of Surgery

Chair, Department of Surgery

Director, Hepatobiliary Surgery

Medstar Georgetown University Hospital

MAY 18 AOA LECTURE

"Cultivating Ingenuity: The Next

Renaissance and the Role of

Government”

Howard Zucker, MD

Commissioner of Health for New York

State

MAY 25 “QI GRAND ROUNDS”

Quality Improvement Groups

Internal Medicine Residents

GW Medical Faculty Associates

The George Washington University Medical Center (GWUMC) is accredited by

the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to

sponsor continuing medical education for physicians. GWUMC designates this continuing medical education activity on an hour-for-hour basis in Category I of

the Physician’s Recognition Award of the American Medical Association.

(AMA).

Cardiology Grand Rounds 5:00 PM, Ross Hall, Room # 104

MAY 3 Mortality & Morbidity Conference MAY 10 Bernard Ashby, MD Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine Columbia University Mount Sinai Medical Center Vascular Medicine MAY 17 William Borden, MD Associate Professor of Medicine Director, Healthcare Delivery Transformation Division, Cardiology Department of Medicine GW Medical Faculty Associates Health Care Symposium MAY 24 Ray Lucas, MD Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Professional Development– GWU Ellen Goldman, Ed.D., M.B.A Assistant Dean for Faculty and Curricular Development in Medical Education– GWU Teaching on the Fly MAY 31 Christopher Ramsden, MD

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Lipidology

GW Medicine Notes Page 3

Kay Arnsberger, PA-C joins the Division of Cardiology this month.

Kay has completed two Bachelor degrees the first in the Arts, at The

George Washington University and another in Science, Physician Assis-

tant Program, The George Washington University School of Medicine

and Health Sciences. She is board certified by the National Commis-

sion on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) and is BLS, ACLS

and CCDS certified. Kay is licensed in the District of Columbia, Com-

monwealth of Virginia and Maryland.

Kay has more than ten years of experience in healthcare; and has ac-

quired experience in the academic realms, as a Clinical Instructor in The

GWU Physician Assistant Program, instructing PA students on the com-

ponents of physical exams. Kay is also a Certified Cardiac Device Spe-

cialist (CCDS).

2017 GWU Alpha Omega Alpha Carolyn L. Kuckein

Student Research Fellowship

Congratulations to Ivy Paw (MD candidate, Class of 2019) as the chapter’s recipient of the 2017 Alpha Omega Alpha Carolyn L. Kuckein Student Research Fellow-ship. Ivy is the 11th consecutive GW student to be awarded funds for this nationally compet-itive fellowship. Please join us in congratulating Ivy and her faculty mentor, Dr. Seto. Project Title: Investigating the role of HDAC9 in Melanoma Awardee: Ivy Paw (MD Candidate, Class of 2019) Mentor: Edward Seto, PhD Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine Associate Center Director for Basic Sciences GWU Cancer Center

Please Join Us In Welcoming Our Newest

Addition to the

Department of Medicine

Grateful Patient Discovery Fund

Patients made a gift in the physician’s honor to the Grateful Patient Discovery Fund, which sup-ports crucial priorities for GW’s Department of Medicine. Dr. Christina Puchalski, Geriatrics Dr. April Barbour, General Internal

Medicine Dr. Robert Jablonover, General Internal

Medicine Dr. Sharon Baratz, General Internal

Medicine Dr. Ashte Collins, Renal

First Watchman and Mitraclip at GW!

Congratulations to Drs. Cynthia Tracy and Christian Nagy for completing the first Watch-man left atrial appendage closure device proce-dure at GW. This device helps reduce the risk of stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation. Our structural heart program now offers Transcathe-ter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) and over 90 have been done, Mitraclip-transcatheter treat-ment of severe mitral regurgitation, WATCHMAN, as well as ASD and PFO closure. Thank you to the staff of the cath lab and the OR, and to the departments of Medicine, Surgery, Anesthesia/Critical care and Nursing for their dedication to this truly multidisciplinary program.

8th Annual GME Retreat

Took place on April 21st, with welcoming remarks

from Dr. Bruno Petinaux, Interim Chief Medical

Officer, Dr. Richard Simons, Senior Associate Dean

for MD Programs, and Dr. Jeffrey Berger, Associate

Dean for GME.

Dr. Jehan El-Bayoumi presented on Health Equity

and Medical Education, understanding the rela-

tionship between the Social Determinates of

Health (SDOH) on health outcomes.

Chairman’s Rounds GWU Hospital Auditorium, 12:00 Noon

All Faculty Invited to Attend MAY 12: Drs. Bryan Senisi and Hind Rafei MAY 17: Drs. Vani Pyda and Nejat Naser

RENAL GRAND ROUNDS

1st Floor, Ross Hall, Lobby C

May 2nd

4pm-6pm

“The Promises and Challenges of Biomarker Research

in Nephrology”

Sushrut Waikar, MD, MPH

Director of Translational Research

Brigham and Women’s Hospital

Harvard Medical School

The George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates

Department of Medicine, Suite 8-416

2150 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

GW Medicine Notes Page 4

Rheumatology Academic Conference Schedule May 2017

2300 M Street, N.W., Suite 3-332

8AM—11:30 AM Questions: Call (202) 741-2488

MAY 4: Radiology Conference Dr. K. Brindle Location: Radiology conference Room, GW Hospital MAY 4: M&M and Clinical rounds MAY 4: Knowledge Bowl and Rheumatology boards training /preparation Dr. Taylor/ Dr. Curiel MAY 11 : Transition Medicine Dr. Patience White MAY 11: M&M and clinical rounds MAY 11: Grand Round Rehearsal MAY 18: Intra-city Grand Rounds Location: GWU NOTE: LOCATION TIME 7:30AM MAY 18: M&M and clinical rounds MAY 25: Physical Therapy/Occupational Therapy MAY 25: M&M and Clinical rounds MAY 25: Knowledge Bowl and Rheumatology boards training /preparation Dr. Taylor/ Dr. Curiel

Kudos and Congratulations Kudos… to Dr. Maresh Mazhari, Cardiology, on a letter of praise

from a couple, “our visit turned into one of the most thorough,

thoughtful, in-depth, meticulous exams we remember… she com-

bines a deeply personal bedside manner with a methodical, analyti-

cal approach.”

Kudos…to Dr. Ivan Pena, PGY2, as he was one of the winners for

the research posters at the ACP conference; his poster was titled, “A

Cross-Sectional Study Reveals an Association between Electronic

Cigarette Use and Myocardial Infarction”, way to go!

Kudos… to Dr. Kusha Davar, PGY2, for being recognized by GW

Hospital for his outstanding contribution to the care of our patients

during the GW Proud moment in GW LEAPS rounds.

Kudos... to these internal medicine residents for their presenta-

tions at the GW Residency Fellowship in Health Policy meeting in

March. The following residents presented: Drs. Lauren Gilkes, PGY

1, Sam Ober, PGY 2, Celia Mouyal, PGY 2, Nick Dallas, PGY3,

and Ellen Dinerman, PGY3.

Congratulations… to Dr. Hind Rafei, PGY 2, on her two abstracts

that were accepted to the American Society of Clinical Oncology

(ASCO) meeting for June 2017 in Chicago.

Congratulations…to Dr. Mihir Patel, General Internal Medicine,

on his recent publication, “Understanding of Cardiovascular Disease

risk factors among Bangladeshi Immigrants in New York City” in

Ethnicity and Health.

See you next month! The Editor