Contract Issues

AAEM Files Amici Curiae Brief in Support of Emergency Physicians

AAEM has filed an amici curiae brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of two AAEM member physicians (Drew Fenton, MD FAAEM, and Klaus Wagener, MD FAAEM) suing their former contract management company over wrongful termination and misassignment of federal Medicare dollars. CAL/AAEM, the California State Chapter of AAEM, and the American College of Legal Medicine, an organization of more than 1,300 professionals concerned with issues arising at the convergence of law and medicine, joined AAEM in filing the brief.

James Thorne, AAEM's Washington Counsel, prepared and filed the brief. According to Mr. Thorne, the issue raised by Dr. Fenton in his Petition for Writ of Certiorari-whether physicians can assign public funds due them to a corporation which engages them to work as independent contractors to staff a hospital emergency department-is clearly an important issue which needs to be addressed by the U.S. Supreme Court. "AAEM is very hopeful the court will grant Dr. Fenton's writ," Mr. Thorne said. "If the court does grant Dr. Fenton's writ, we expect several organizations, medical associations, and the federal government to file amicus curiae briefs with the court, due to the importance of the issue."

AAEM members who wish to receive a copy of the amici curiae brief should contact AAEM by telephone at (800) 884-2236 or email at info@aaem.org.