Ming Lin, MD, the emergency physician who was fired early in the Covid pandemic for airing alleged safety concerns, has hired new lawyers to take his case to trial.
After parting ways with lawyers working for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) because he didn’t want to settle his case as they recommended, Lin selected the San Francisco boutique firm Millstein Fellner LLP to represent him when he goes to trial in February 2024.
He said he’s “lost a lot of sleep thinking about” taking on the risk of a trial, but that ultimately, he wants to try to make medicine better than when he found it — particularly because his daughter has expressed interest in going to medical school.
“I think that’s one of the main things, when I thought about this case. I can’t just sit back and walk away with a settlement,” Lin told MedPage Today. “I would really regret it, if I didn’t at least try to change healthcare. If I can make even a small difference, I would feel much more satisfied.”
Millstein Fellner is the same firm that the American Academy of Emergency Medicine (AAEM) is working with in its lawsuit against private equity-backed physician staffing firm Envision for allegedly violating California’s ban on the corporate practice of medicine.
“This case perfectly illustrates the danger to the public of allowing corporations to control and influence physicians,” David Millstein, JD, partner at Millstein Fellner, told MedPage Today. “The inherent conflict between medical professionals and the commercial interests of lay entities is recognized in law, enshrined in the Corporate Practice of Medicine bar. Physicians must be allowed to act in their patients’ best interests, not to assist corporations in their duty to earn profits.”
“Dr. Lin’s advocacy for medical standards and maintenance of this suit is nothing less than a courageous exercise of his ethical duties to care for patients,” Millstein added.
Lin provided more details to MedPage Today about the early days of Covid-19 and the outspokenness that led him to lose his job of 17 years. (Continued…)
Read more here.
