Malpractice and medical liability

1,592 articles · Since 2004

Articles, page 24

Malpractice attorneys shouldn’t rely on clinical guidelines

January 26, 2011Jan 26, 20118

The Institute of Medicine has been an advocate for clinical guidelines for many years. Although the value of guidelines has never really been established, both clinicians and medical malpractice attorneys often want to ascribe greater credibility to them than they…

The Institute of Medicine has been an advocate for clinical guidelines for many years.

Although the value of guidelines has never really been established, both clinicians and medical malpractice attorneys often want to ascribe greater credibility to them than they deserve. The issue was raised again in the past few months and I review it briefly here.

A few years ago Dr. Robert Ewart discussed the ethics of using guidelines to screen patients …

Physician voices

Malpractice fails when it comes to medical errors

Jan Gurley, MD

January 21, 2011Jan 21, 201146

Here’s your multiple choice question to set the stage: what percentage of all physicians do you think should be sued for malpractice? Would you say one-in-ten doctors ought to be sued? Or one-third? How about every single one of them?…

Here’s your multiple choice question to set the stage: what percentage of all physicians do you think should be sued for malpractice?

Would you say one-in-ten doctors ought to be sued? Or one-third? How about every single one of them? Let’s make it one claim per doctor, nationwide. Does that sound reasonable? Keep in mind that even defending yourself against a suit will cost on average $40,649 per claim, ranging from …

Physician voices

Are malpractice lawsuits really responsible for the rise in C-sections?

Louise Marie Roth, PhD

January 16, 2011Jan 16, 201161

by Louise Marie Roth, PhD About one third of all births in the contemporary United States occur via c-section. Physicians and the public at large often attribute this to a "malpractice crisis," whereby obstetricians perform c-sections routinely to avoid malpractice…

by Louise Marie Roth, PhD

About one third of all births in the contemporary United States occur via c-section. Physicians and the public at large often attribute this to a “malpractice crisis,” whereby obstetricians perform c-sections routinely to avoid malpractice litigation. Over the last couple of years, I have been conducting research on obstetric practices and malpractice.

One of the things that I have learned …

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Physician voices

Doctors can reduce malpractice by being better people

Aaron E. Carroll, MD

January 5, 2011Jan 5, 20118

My father, although retired, is a general and thoracic surgeon, triple boarded in critical care, who ran a trauma unit. My brother is a pretty successful lawyer. Whenever I visit them, inevitably at least one night ends with the three…

My father, of course, blames the lawyers; my brother …

Patient voices

How you can reduce preventable mistakes in your medical care

Neil Baum, MD

January 5, 2011Jan 5, 20118

There are nearly 1.5 million Americans who suffer each year from preventable mistakes. A report by the Institute of Medicine estimates that as many as 98,000 people die in U.S. hospitals each year as the result of medical errors. Most…

There are nearly 1.5 million Americans who suffer each year from preventable mistakes. A report by the Institute of Medicine estimates that as many as 98,000 people die in U.S. hospitals each year as the result of medical errors.

Most of these errors are related to drug mistakes. That’s the bad news. The good news is that your doctors and hospitals are trying to reduce these errors by using by using …

Physician voices

Patient complaints do not fit the primary care office visit

Kevin Pho, MD

December 28, 2010Dec 28, 201050

Primary care physicians often have to see patients with a litany of issues. Often within a span of a 15-minute office visit. This places the doctor in the middle of a tension -- spend more time with the patient to…

Primary care physicians often have to see patients with a litany of issues. Often within a span of a 15-minute office visit.

This places the doctor in the middle of a tension — spend more time with the patient to address all of the concerns, but risk the wrath of patients scheduled afterwards, who are then forced to wait.

And, in some cases, it’s simply impossible to adequately address every patient question …

Posts of the year on KevinMD.com, 2010 edition

Kevin

December 25, 2010Dec 25, 2010

Merry Christmas! I'd like to thank everyone for your continued readership. Doctors, patients and other health care professionals need to be heard, and there's no better place to do so than here, on social media's leading physician voice. This year,…

Merry Christmas!

I’d like to thank everyone for your continued readership.

Doctors, patients and other health care professionals need to be heard, and there’s no better place to do so than here, on social media’s leading physician voice.

This year, KevinMD.com had a regular rotation of 175 guest contributors, and surpassed 1.75 million visits, 2.95 million pageviews, 33,000 followers on Facebook and Twitter, and 40,000 RSS subscribers.

I am truly …

Physician voices

A nurse and the system to deal with medical errors

Mary Lynn Summer

December 15, 2010Dec 15, 201021

I am a nurse. Like most medical practitioners, I am afraid of malpractice attorneys and view them as a threat to my nursing license. Every hospital has a system in place to deal with medical errors and patient complaints. I…

My mother, in her late 80s, recently broke her hip. She has dementia so is unable to appropriately express her needs. On …

Physician voices

Medical errors that involve handwritten prescriptions

Daphne Swancutt

December 14, 2010Dec 14, 201016

by Daphne Swancutt Two people in the United States just died in the last hour. Seventeen more will die in the next 7 to 8 hours. Over a year, that number will accumulate to about 7,000. The reason? Medical errors…

by Daphne Swancutt

Two people in the United States just died in the last hour. Seventeen more will die in the next 7 to 8 hours. Over a year, that number will accumulate to about 7,000.

The reason? Medical errors that include misread or otherwise misinterpreted handwritten prescriptions. Believe it. This means that doctors are being sloppy, pharmacies are making mistakes and people are getting dead.

Even more …

Patient voices

A postmortem on the patient safety movement

Robert Donnell, MD

December 8, 2010Dec 8, 201011

Are patients better off than they were ten years ago? Just over a decade ago the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released its celebrated report on patient safety, To Err is Human. Many credit that report, which was released with great…

Are patients better off than they were ten years ago?

Just over a decade ago the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released its celebrated report on patient safety, To Err is Human. Many credit that report, which was released with great fanfare, with launching the patient safety movement. So it’s appropriate to assess the movement’s impact eleven years later. How did we do?

On November 25 the New England Journal of Medicine published …

Physician voices

Open dialogue on medical malpractice and patient safety

Brian Nash

December 7, 2010Dec 7, 2010192

A response to my recent post, The malpractice system doesn’t improve patient safety. by Brian Nash In his blog, Dr. Kevin acknowledges that in the "world of medical error, truth is often clouded in secrecy." He then points out that…

A response to my recent post, The malpractice system doesn’t improve patient safety.

by Brian Nash

In his blog, Dr. Kevin acknowledges that in the “world of medical error, truth is often clouded in secrecy.” He then points out that “… taking the bold step of publicly describing your mistake is a brave one. Some would say it’s long overdue.”

Well so far, Dr. K, we’re …

Health policy

The malpractice system doesn’t improve patient safety

Kevin Pho, MD

November 29, 2010Nov 29, 201018

There has been significant media attention on a New England Journal of Medicine case report where a surgeon, Massachusetts General Hospital's David Ring, described how he operated on the wrong hand of a patient. Here's a summary of the case:…

There has been significant media attention on a New England Journal of Medicine case report where a surgeon, Massachusetts General Hospital’s David Ring, described how he operated on the wrong hand of a patient.

Here’s a summary of the case:

Ring, along with colleagues at Massachusetts General and Harvard Medical School, detailed the series of missteps that led to the wrong operation in the patient whose ring finger on her

…

Physician voices

Our malpractice system needs to focus on patient safety

Donald H. Taylor, PhD

November 18, 2010Nov 18, 201020

A malpractice lawsuit claims that a doctor treated a patient negligently and that this treatment caused harm, and it seeks monetary compensation. Negligence means that a physician failed to provide the standard of care expected by the prevailing medical custom. Juries decide cases that are tried, but most cases are settled or dropped. Lawyers get paid (typically 35 percent) only when they win or settle a case.

A successful malpractice system …

Health policy

Medical malpractice reform in exchange for paying doctors less

Kevin Pho, MD

November 11, 2010Nov 11, 201036

The bipartisan debt commission appointed by President Obama recently released its recommendations on how to pare the country's debt. Of interest to doctors is the suggestion to change the way doctors are paid. Physician lobbies have been advocating for removal…

The bipartisan debt commission appointed by President Obama recently released its recommendations on how to pare the country’s debt.

Of interest to doctors is the suggestion to change the way doctors are paid. Physician lobbies have been advocating for removal of the Sustainable Growth Rate formula — the flawed method by which Medicare, and subsequently private insurers, pays doctors.

According to this method, physicians are due for a pay cut of …

Physician voices

Reduce medical malpractice and create a culture of patient safety

Brian Goldman, MD

October 19, 2010Oct 19, 201028

When I was a resident in internal medicine many years ago, I saw an elderly woman who came to the ER complaining of chest pain and shortness of breath. She had a history of heart disease. When I listened to her chest, the crackles I heard emanating from her wet lungs told me she had congestive heart failure. I treated her chest pain and gave her diuretics to help her get rid of the water that was making …

Physician voices

Medical malpractice and how legal waste increases overall costs

Chris Rangel, MD

October 7, 2010Oct 7, 201021

Dr. Kirsch at MD Whistleblower has written about his recent unpleasant experience with malpractice litigation. Despite having full access to the patient’s chart and medical records, the plaintiffs attorney chose to include Dr. Kirsch in the suit ... apparently ...…

In Ohio – where this case was filed – a plaintiff in a medical malpractice case is required to obtain …

Physician voices

Physicians must be aware of what they know they don’t know

Kent Bottles, MD

September 15, 2010Sep 15, 20108

St. Augustine: “Fallor ergo sum” When I was in charge of the medical residency programs in Grand Rapids, Michigan, David Leach introduced me to the expanded Dreyfus Model of how physicians can progress from beginners to masters. I was always…

St. Augustine: “Fallor ergo sum”

When I was in charge of the medical residency programs in Grand Rapids, Michigan, David Leach introduced me to the expanded Dreyfus Model of how physicians can progress from beginners to masters.

I was always struck by how master physicians freely admitted their mistakes and used them as a teaching tool. As a young surgical and cytopathologist, my sanity was saved more than once by University of

…

Health technology

How CPOE violated medical ethics

Anonymous

September 14, 2010Sep 14, 201027

As a result of my mother's health IT-related cerebral hemorrhage and resultant multi-month hospitalization, with transfers to nursing homes then back to acute care due to setbacks, I recently had the chance to observe her care in a small community…

As a result of my mother’s health IT-related cerebral hemorrhage and resultant multi-month hospitalization, with transfers to nursing homes then back to acute care due to setbacks, I recently had the chance to observe her care in a small community hospital.

This was a hospital that, in her last several days there before going back to a nursing home for …

Read more…

How CPOE violated medical ethics

Physician voices

How physicians can endure the trauma of a malpractice lawsuit

Philippa Kennealy, MD, MPH

September 11, 2010Sep 11, 20109

Several clients have endured the trauma of malpractice law suits, Medicare audits and stinging accusations or criticisms from patients or colleagues that leave them reeling. These clients have shared feelings of: shame despair depression loss of self-worth disillusionment confusion hurt…

Several clients have endured the trauma of malpractice law suits, Medicare audits and stinging accusations or criticisms from patients or colleagues that leave them reeling.

These clients have shared feelings of:

shame
despair
depression
loss of self-worth
disillusionment
confusion
hurt
defeat

Oddly enough, one of the least common feelings they’re able to get in touch with is anger.

Maybe it’s because my clients are self-selected, and many tend to be goal-oriented strivers with a perfectionistic streak. They were, as was I, …

Physician voices

Defensive medicine costs less money than physicians think

Kevin Pho, MD

September 7, 2010Sep 7, 201016

Nothing polarizes the heath care debate more than defensive medicine. A recent study from Health Affairs will only add more fuel to the fire. Here's what I wrote a couple of years ago in USA Today: "When you consider that…

Nothing polarizes the heath care debate more than defensive medicine. A recent study from Health Affairs will only add more fuel to the fire.

Here’s what I wrote a couple of years ago in USA Today: “When you consider that rampant testing is a major driver of escalating health care dollars, addressing defensive medicine should be a primary goal of cost containment.”

Is that still true?

Well, yes and no.

MedPage Today summarizes …

Malpractice and medical liability

Articles, page 24

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