Could a clinical mistake land you in jail?

Internist Gerald Einaugler is facing 52 consecutive weekends in New York's notorious Riker's Island jail because he was slow to hospitalize a terminally ill nursing-home patient. A jury convicted the Brooklyn physician last June of reckless endangerment and willful neglect, both misdemeanors. He has lost his privileges at a hospital and two nursing homes, and has been disqualified as a Medicaid provider. He may also lose is medical license. What he considered conservative management, a prosecutor saw as criminal neglect, a deliberate attempt to thwart appropriate treatment.