Here’s a common joke I heard during my residency. “What’s the problem with every other night call?” “You miss half the cases.” The gist was that the more you saw, the more you did, and the more you learned. Because it was believed that patient safety suffered in the wake of such extensive hours, the … Read more
Most patients want to receive care close to where they live. Patients also want the option to travel to centers of excellence, if necessary. Walmart has flipped that model on its head for its employees. Effective January 2019, Walmart will mandate its employees travel to high-profile healthcare systems for spinal procedures. Such systems include the … Read more
Learning how to do a proper history and physical serves as the foundation for training young physicians. This includes learning how to examine sensitive parts of the body. A rectal exam. A pelvic exam. When I was training, paid models served as teachers when we learned how to do a pelvic exam. They had done … Read more
A three doctor Allergy and Immunology practice in Connecticut just wrote the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights a check for $125,000. Three Boston hospitals, Mass General, Brigham and Women’s and Boston Medical Center wrote a check for $1M. New York Presbyterian Hospital wrote a $2.2M check. Memorial Hermann Health System … Read more
Ten years ago, we ran a contest, encouraging doctors to reveal if they had been involved in a frivolous lawsuit. We awarded a prize to the doctor who submitted the Most Frivolous Lawsuit. Cold comfort. Still, the winner did receive a free membership for one year with Medical Justice. We are running that same contest … Read more
“Even when she was gone, she was present in the patient sitting before me and in the way I was newly able to comfort and reassure her.” Dr. Joseph Stern, a neurosurgeon, wrote a moving piece published in the NY Times, about how his sister’s recent fight with cancer impacted him. The process of sitting … Read more
In 2017, a high profile medical malpractice highlighted what is euphemistically known as “overlapping surgery.” Before plodding ahead, let’s get our terms straight. The American College of Surgeons defines operations as concurrent “when the critical or key components of the procedures for which the primary attending surgeon is responsible are occurring all or in part at the same time” and as overlapping “when the key or critical elements of the first operation have been completed, and … a second operation … Read more
On occasion, complex systems crumble because of a single defective part, a part no one anticipated. The space shuttle Challenger is a case in point. What happened? O-rings failed at 31 degrees, the temperature at Cape Canaveral at launch. That led to a cascade of badness which resulted in the Challenger exploding. Some at NASA … Read more
We continue with our series of articles penned by one attorney, an MD, JD, giving you a view of the world through a malpractice plaintiff attorney’s eyes. In this article, the author addresses “Assumption of risk versus informed consent..” This attorney is a seasoned veteran. The series includes a number of pearls on how to … Read more
Skydiving is dangerous. Most skydivers land safely. But, not all. And if your chute does not timely open (and properly), death or injury are likely. How is it skydiving facilities are rarely sued? And, if they are sued, the facility usually prevails. There’s a legal defense known as “assumption of risk.” The skydiver presumably knows that skydiving is a dangerous … Read more
