Watching the news, you’d think that US hospitals are being crushed by the weight of an Ebola epidemic. While Ebola poses a non-negligible risk, it pales in comparison to the epidemic of whining.
Healthcare Reform
Ebola and Quarantine / Isolation Laws. What is the Government Allowed to Do?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) publishes a webpage which gives excellent summary information on government powers to enforce isolation and quarantine.
First, the definitions.
Isolation separates sick people with contagious disease from people who are not sick. Quarantine separates and restricts the movement of people exposed to contagious disease to determine if they become sick.
Surgical Warranties – Here They Come
It’s common knowledge that the US healthcare system is the priciest in the world. Some healthcare systems are testing new financial models to see if they can squeeze more efficiencies beyond the status quo. Warranties.
First Ebola Death in US. Is the First Ebola Lawsuit Far Behind?
Thomas Duncan returned from Liberia and presented to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital with fever and abdominal pain. He was released with symptomatic treatment and returned 3 days later. Sadly, he died of Ebola.
The family of the first Ebola victim in the U.S. will “probably” take legal action against the Dallas hospital, where he died this week, a spokesman for his fiancee stated.
2,610 Hospitals Just Got Screwed by Medicare
Spare the rod and spoil the child.
Medicare fined 2,610 hospitals, a record, for too many re-admissions.
Interestingly, the national rate for readmissions is getting lower. Still, last year, 18% of Medicare patients were re-admitted within a month. Medicare believes these re-admissions costs them $26 billion; and that $17 billion comes from potentially avoidable readmissions.
Loss of Consortium in Med-Mal Cases for Same-Sex Couples
In a typical medical malpractice case, the patient is the plaintiff, seeking a remedy for the injury caused by the doctor’s negligence.
There’s a second type of claim – loss of consortium. Many laypeople narrowly interpret “loss of consortium” as an injury experienced by the patient’s spouse in not being able to enagage in and enjoy sexual relations. But, “loss of consortium” is much broader. It applies to deprivation of benefits of a family relationship.
Surgeon Charges $117,000 – and Receives – for Assistant Fee
A couple of weeks ago, my car’s battery died. It was dead-dead. Was never going to take a charge.
AAA has a service where they will put in a new battery – instead of just giving you a jump. While the price seemed high- $128- it did not seem unreasonable. I’d be done. I wouldn’t have to turn this into a two step procedure, step 1: jump; step 2: get a new battery at a lower price elsewhere.
The next morning, the driver contracted by AAA called me. He made an error. Instead of charging my credit card $128, he accidentally charged $12,800. (That immediately made me feel inadequate about the tip I gave.) The driver said he was calling to let me know his company issued a credit. Whew.
Three Steps to Avoid Being Burned by Statistics in the Courtroom
Mark Twain, (and possibly Benjamin Disraeli in England) famously stated “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.”
I just finished a 9 week MOOC – massive open online course in Medical Statistics offered by Stanford Medical School. The course was free and I highly recommend similar free online classes to all medical professionals. I must confess, though, I did not do the homework or take the final exam.
Finishing the course reminded me that statistics can be manipulated by the press, skilled lawyers, and others – often without malicious intent- to achieve a particular purpose. If an expert is delivering drivel against you on the witness stand, and he is waxing philosophic about statistics, the more you know about statistics, the better you’ll be able to defend against its misuse. While we could spend all day on the topic, let’s stick to basics.
Understanding duty and liability when you are on-call: Avoiding minefields
We continue with our series of general educational articles penned by one attorney, an MD, JD, giving you a view of the world through a malpractice plaintiff attorney’s eyes. This attorney is a seasoned veteran. The series includes a number of pearls on how to stay out of harm’s way. While I do not necessarily agree with 100% of the details of every article, I think the messages are salient, on target, and fully relevant. Please give us your feedback – and let us know if you find the series helpful.
The following questions came from a hand surgeon. They address situations that might arise when he is on-call at his local community hospital. These questions encapsulate issues that may affect anyone who consults to emergency rooms.
Let’s have a look:
1. I am on-call for hand surgery. A patient comes to the ER for a hand issue that the ER either treats or stabilizes. The ER physician gives them my name for follow-up, but no appointment is made. No contact is made from the ER to me. What are my duties to the patient and my potential liabilities?
