35 RI Doctors Settled Malpractice Cases for $1 Million or More Since 2020
GoLocalProv News Team
35 RI Doctors Settled Malpractice Cases for $1 Million or More Since 2020
Lawyers who work on malpractice cases tell GoLocal that a settlement of $1 million or more is a clear indication that someone suffered substantial harm.
GoLocal developed the list of physicians who have settlements of $1 million or more, and those are designated as “HIGH.”
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SEE THE FULL LIST BELOW
The Department of Health publishes all settlements and that can be searched HERE.
The settlement ranges as defined by RIDOH are:
LOW: Less than $200,000
MEDIUM: $200,000 but less than $1,000,000
HIGH: $1,000,000 or more
The Department of Health posts the settlement information, but not the actual complaints.
One physician had two settlements of greater than $1 million during this time period — Robert Shalvoy, an orthopaedic surgeon. He also had a third settlement during this time period designated as “MEDIUM.”
Value of the Information and Considerations
RIDOH writes that this information should be one information point when considering a healthcare profession, but also cites that certain specialties have higher risks.
"Physicians have different scopes of practice relevant to their specialty. Some specialties have higher risk of being the subject of a malpractice action than other specialties. Malpractice information should not be interpreted in isolation when evaluating a physician. Malpractice awards are divided into three categories, low, medium and high, based on the dollar amount of the award,” writes RIDOH.
Further, RIDOH states, “When reviewing this information, it should be noted that physicians have been in practice since their license date issued. The recipient of this report should take this into account when evaluating this information. The recipient of this report should also note, malpractice settlements may occur several years after the actual incident occurred due to the time a lawsuit takes to move through the legal system. Malpractice claims sometimes are settled for reasons other than physician liability and sometimes are settled by the insurer without the physician's consent. Physicians perform procedures of different complexity and this may affect their risk of malpractice.”
The Date of the Settlement Is Not the Date of the Incident
RIDOH also cautions when reviewing the information to consider that “settlement of a claim may occur for a variety of reasons which do not necessarily reflect negatively on the professional competence or conduct of the physician. A payment in settlement of a medical malpractice action or claim should not be construed as creating a presumption that medical malpractice has occurred.”
SEE THE 35 PHYSICIANS BELOW
Malpractice Settlements 2020 to April 2025
PHYSCIAN: Appenfeller, Rex
SPECIALTY: Internal Medicine
TYPE: Medical
HIGH - $1 million or more
DATE: 2023-07-11
PHYSICIAN: Bernal, Oscar G
SPECIALTY: Neurology
TYPE: Medical
HIGH - $1 million or more
DATE: 2023-11-08
PHYSICIAN: Black, Richard
SPECIALITY: None Listed
TYPE: Medical
HIGH - $1 million or more
DATE: 2021-08-26
PHYSICIAN: Blazar, Steven
SPECIALTY: Orthopaedic Surgery
TYPE: Surgical
HIGH - $1 million or more
DATE: 2022-04-22
PHYSICIAN: Bloomenthal, Aaron
SPECIALTY: Surgery
TYPE: Surgical
HIGH- $1 million or more
DATE: 2023-08-14
PHYSICIAN: Brayboy, Lynae
SPECIALTY: Obstetrics & Gynecology
TYPE: Surgical
HIGH: $1 million or more
DATE: 2021-10-29
PHYSICIAN: Chen, William
SPECIALTY: Internal Medicine
TYPE: Medical
HIGH: $1 million or more
DATE: 2022-10-07
PHYSICIAN: Chronley, David
SPECIALTY: Pediatrics
TYPE: Medical
HIGH: $1 million or more
DATE: 2021-01-04
PHYSICIAN: Cicerchia, David
SPECIALTY: Orthopaedic Surgery
TYPE: Surgical
HIGH - $1 million or more
DATE: 2022-06-27
PHYSICIAN: Coppa, Michael A.
SPECIALTY: Obstetrics & Gynecology
TYPE: Surgical
HIGH - $1 million or more
DATE: 2023-04-28
PHYSICIAN: Felber, Karl
SPECIALTY: Family Practice
TYPE: Medical
HIGH - $1 million or more
DATE: 2020-12-22
PHYSICIAN: Fried, David
SPECIALTY: Internal Medicine
TYPE: Medical
HIGH - $1 million or more
DATE: 2022-06-27
PHYSICIAN: Handel, Todd
SPECIALTY: Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
TYPE: Medical
HIGH - $1 million or more
DATE: 2022-11-15
PHYSICIAN: Healey, Terrance
SPECIALTY: Diagnostic Radiology
TYPE: Medical
HIGH - $1 million or more
DATE: 2021-06-24
PHYSICIAN: Hodgson, Benjamin Tucker
SPECIALTY: None Listed
TYPE: Medical
HIGH - $1 million or more
DATE: 2023-07-21
PHYSICIAN: Imamura, Taichi
SPECIALTY: Emergency Medicine
TYPE: Medical
HIGH - $1 million or more
DATE: 2024-08-12
PHYSICIAN: Jacobs, Marianne
SPECIALTY: Neurology
TYPE: Medical
HIGH - $1 million or more
DATE: 2020-11-17
PHYSICIAN: Kokturk, Tolga
SPECIALTY: Obstetrics & Gynecology
TYPE: Surgical
HIGH - $1 million or more
DATE: 2023-04-21
PHYSICIAN: Lareau, D. Michael
SPECIALTY: Anesthesiology
TYPE: Medical
HIGH - $1 million or more
DATE: 2020-03-31
PHYSICIAN: Levin, Rolina
SPECIALTY: None Provided
TYPE: Medical
HIGH - $1 million or more
DATE: 2020-10-19
PHYSICIAN: Lieberman, Jeffrey
SPECIALTY: Diagnostic Radiology
TYPE: Medical
HIGH - $1 million or more
DATE: 2023-01-12
PHYSICIAN: Liporaci Lucena, Rafael
SPECIALTY: Internal Medicine
TYPE: Medical
HIGH - $1 million or more
DATE: 2023-06-19
PHYSICIAN: Luke, Michael Arthur
SPECIALTY: Surgery
TYPE: Surgical
HIGH - $1 million or more
DATE: 2024-04-17
PHYSICIAN: McGoldrick, Karen
SPECIALTY: Obstetrics & Gynecology
TYPE: Surgical
HIGH - $1 million or more
DATE: 2022-08-09
PHYSICIAN: Opalenski, Philip J.
SPECIALTY: Gastroenterology (IM) - Internal
TYPE: Surgical
HIGH - $1 million or more
DATE: 2024-04-17
PHYSICIAN: Pensa, Frank
SPECIALTY: Obstetrics & Gynecology
TYPE: Surgical
HIGH - $1 million or more
DATE: 2022-04-15
PHYSICIAN: Raza, Fatima
SPECIALTY: Internal Medicine
TYPE: Medical
HIGH - $1 million or more
DATE: 2022-09-29
PHYSICIAN: Reichenberg, Jared
SPECIALTY: None Listed
TYPE: Medical
HIGH - $1 million or more
DATE: 2024-10-15
PHYSICIAN: Sampath, Prakash
SPECIALTY: Neurological Surgery
TYPE: Surgical
HIGH - $1 million or more
DATE: 2024-08-28
PHYSICIAN: Shalvoy, Robert (first settlement)
SPECIALTY: Orthopaedic Surgery
TYPE: Surgical
HIGH - $1 million or more
DATE: 2021-10-20
PHYSICIAN: Shalvoy, Robert (second settlement)
SPECIALTY: Orthopaedic Surgery
TYPE: Surgical
HIGH - $1 million or more
DATE: 2021-06-02
PHYSICIAN: Sussman, Arlene
SPECIALTY: Radiology
TYPE: Medical
HIGH - $1 million or more
DATE: 2023-03-15
PHYSICIAN: Thomas, Anthony
SPECIALTY: Medical Oncology (IM) - Internal Medicine
TYPE: Medical
HIGH - $1 million or more
DATE: 2023-03-03
PHYSICIAN: Valente, James
SPECIALTY: Surgery
TYPE: Surgical
HIGH - $1 million or more
DATE: 2023-10-27
PHYSICIAN: Werner, Erika
SPECIALTY: Obstetrics & Gynecology
TYPE: Surgical
HIGH - $1 million or more
DATE: 2021-03-31
PHYSICIAN: Zhukov, Marija
SPECIALTY: Anesthesiology
TYPE: Medical
HIGH - $1 million or more
DATE: 2024-02-16
