LAW


“Peer review” farce Physician battles Dalhart hospital


Van Mask, MD, travels with his horse and mule while working as an emergency medicine locum tenens physician. He sued Coon Memorial Hospital in Dalhart for libel, slander, defamation, and falsely representing that he and seven other physicians had “quality and liability issues pursuant to a review by a medical staff committee.”


“The lawsuit


depleted me of all my savings.”


BY CRYSTAL ZUZEK For the past 24 years, Van Mask, MD, has traveled throughout the United States as an emergency medicine locum tenens physician. He often calls the hospital parking lot home, living in his trailer before hauling his horse and mule to the next town needing his services. In late 2010, he was making arrangements to work holiday shifts at a Lubbock hospital emergency department when his life changed.


December 2013 TEXAS MEDICINE 51


BRETT BUCHANAN


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