PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- WolfBlock attorney David Landau and Michael Shaffer of Shaffer & Gaier, LLC of Philadelphia convinced a Philadelphia court to hold two local doctors liable for misappropriating the patient lists of a medical practice for which they were working. Landau and Shaffer represent Andrew Pollack, M.D., a Flourtown dermatologist. The two physicians who worked for him, Toby Shawe, M.D. and Samy Badawy, M.D., took his confidential patient lists without permission to start their own practice.
Dr. Pollack is the sole proprietor of Philadelphia Institute of Dermatology and was responsible for its operation and management. Doctors Shawe and Badawy worked for PID, but had no ownership interest in the practice. In June 2002, the three doctors reached a tentative agreement in which the majority of the practice would be sold to Doctors Shawe and Badawy. In early August of 2002, Dr. Shawe and Dr. Badawy abruptly resigned from PID and on September 3, 2002 opened their new practice, Skinsmart. However, prior to submitting their resignations, the doctors had directed PID staff members to make copies of the appointment books assigned to each of them and a printout of large portions of the patient list. The patient list was used to contact patients who had procedures scheduled at PID, to reschedule them to Skinsmart. Doctors Shawe and Badawy also contacted patients on the patient list as well as referring physicians via phone and mail to promote Skinsmart. Dr. Pollack sued.
Judge Gene Cohen of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia ruled that Doctors Shawe and Badawy were liable to Dr. Pollack for misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of their duty of loyalty and unjust enrichment. The Court found that the defendants had misused the information by directing an employee to copy the patient list and then used the patient list to call to reschedule patients and to open their own practice. "The patient list was a trade secret and defendants wrongfully acquired it," the Judge said. The Court decided the liability issues only and a trial on damages will be held in early January.
Commenting on the decision, David Landau, a partner in WolfBlock's Litigation Department and Chair of its Intellectual Property and Information Technology Litigation Group, said, "A confidential patient list is a core asset of a medical practice. The defendant doctors took that list without permission and without paying for it and used it to start their own practice. The Court agreed that this conduct was improper."
WolfBlockCONTACT: Kate Larkin Hall, WolfBlock, +1-215-977-2398,khall@wolfblock.com
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