Medical Justice Blog

The information presented on this site is for general educational purposes only. It is not specific medical or legal advice. Nothing on this site should be construed as establishing a doctor-patient or attorney-client relationship.

Medical School for Free

NYU Medical School recently announced it will waive tuition for all medical students, now and going forward. NYU has raised $450M of the needed $600M to fund this gift in perpetuity. Kenneth Langone (one of the Home Depot founders) and his wife donated $100M.   One reason NYU … Read more
Medical Justice

Why Doctors Don’t Like to Retire

Guest Blog Post by David Mokotoff, MD The past decade has seen an enormous upheaval in the practice of medicine. The private independent medical practice is in danger of extinction. Management overhead and red tape has skyrocketed due to government regulations and private insurance and … Read more
Medical Justice

Crap, It’s Always Something

Sometimes the little things matter just as much as the big ones. They can create downstream problems that were never anticipated.   We recently heard from a surgeon in Ohio. He was performing an office-based procedure. An employee was looking for the doctor. She quickly opened … Read more
Medical Justice

FDA Warns Companies Against Marketing Benefits of Vaginal Rejuvenation

Medical practices often add new techniques and procedures to increase revenue. I’m not suggesting the only reason is revenue. Presumably it’s to serve the patient and make a living BY serving the patient. And, I’m not opposed to physicians expanding what they do from treating … Read more
Medical Justice

Man Bites Dog. Doctor Sues Attorney and Wins $8M in Jury Verdict for Malicious Prosecution.

One Arizona doctor had a good ending to a horrible odyssey. The urologist, Dr. Trabucco, was sued by an attorney for medical malpractice. Actually, this attorney did not really argue run-of-the-mill professional negligence. He argued the doctor “committed willful and malicious actions upon [the Plaintiff], … Read more
Medical Justice

Physicians Interrupt Patients After 11 Seconds

A recent article evaluated 112 recorded clinical encounters. The rationale was testing of “shared decision-making tools.” I was confused by the findings and conclusions.   In 27 of the 40 (67%) encounters in which clinicians elicited patient concerns, the clinician interrupted the patient after a median of 11 seconds (interquartile … Read more
Medical Justice

Some Attorneys Behave Like Jerks

Yes, I know. The sun rises in the east. Sets in the west. And 2+2=4. Most of the time, when an attorney requests a copy of medical records for something like a personal injury case, auto accident, worker’s comp, they are professional, courteous, and offer … Read more
Medical Justice

Not All Threats Patients Make Are Equal

Patients may be unhappy with their doctor for a variety of reasons. Dialogue solves most of them. But, sometimes this angst escalates. It culminates in a threat. All threats are not equal in the eyes of the law. A common threat is “Give me my … Read more
Medical Justice

Is it Really Unprofessional to Write Prescriptions Outside the Office?

A famous US Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart once opined on obscenity: “I know it when I see it.” The Maryland Board of Medicine weighed in on whether it was unprofessional to write a prescription for a patient at a restaurant / bar. Excerpts from … Read more
Medical Justice

Lions Tigers, and Bears. Oh My. Therapy Animals in the Operating Room

First, let’s discuss the difference between a service animal and a therapy animal.  According to the U.S. Department of Justice, “service animals are defined as dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities. Examples of such work or tasks … Read more
Medical Justice