Charting Your Defense is a physician-focused medical-legal podcast presented in a conversational Q&A format. Each episode features a host guiding a structured discussion with Dr. Michael Coleman, a practicing hospitalist and medical director, exploring how clinical decisions, documentation, and healthcare systems intersect with malpractice law.

Through case analysis, legal concepts, and real-world clinical scenarios, the show breaks down complex medico-legal issues into practical insights physicians can apply in everyday practice. Topics include documentation strategy, the standard of care, expert testimony, depositions, and the litigation process.

A critically ill patient is admitted with end-stage renal disease, pulmonary fibrosis, and heart failure. His skin is intact on arrival. Over the next three months, his condition spirals through ICU transfers, respiratory failure, a stroke, and sepsis — and a pressure injury develops that progresses from a minor skin tear to a Stage IV ulcer with exposed bone. He dies on Christmas Eve. This is the clinical story that became a multi-year malpractice case — and it starts here.

On the Record

Season 1: When the Wound Speaks

A critically ill patient is admitted with end-stage renal disease, pulmonary fibrosis, and heart failure. His skin is intact on arrival. Over the next three months, his condition spirals through ICU transfers, respiratory failure, a stroke, and sepsis — and a pressure injury develops that progresses from a minor skin tear to a Stage IV ulcer with exposed bone. He dies on Christmas Eve. This is the clinical story that became a multi-year malpractice case — and it starts here.

When Infection Hides in the Artery

The CT scan said brain tumor. The surgeon opened the skull expecting cancer. But when pathology came back, there were no malignant cells — just bacteria that had been silently destroying an artery from the inside.

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