Most physicians treat it as a privilege. They appreciate being given the responsibility of earning a patient’s trust and caring for them. In reality, once a physician has passed the requirements to practice medicine, it is a qualified right. If the physician conforms to established norms, they are allowed to continue practice. The vast majority … Read more
What is considered the practice of medicine? In the seminal 1964 Supreme Court case which litigated the threshold definition of obscenity, Justice Potter Stewart opined: “I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description [“hard-core pornography”], and perhaps I could never succeed in … Read more
Medical Justice takes aim squarely at deterring frivolous litigation. And we provide remedies for those unjustly sucked into such lawsuits. Ten years ago we ran a contest for the Most Frivolous Lawsuit. The “winning” defendant received a free year of membership in Medical / Dental Justice. We decided to run that same contest one more … Read more
Medical Justice takes aim squarely at deterring frivolous litigation. And we provide remedies for those unjustly sucked into such lawsuits. Ten years ago, we ran a contest for the Most Frivolous Lawsuit. The “winning” defendant received a free year of membership in Medical / Dental Justice. We decided to run that same contest one more … Read more
This could not be an easy conversation. “The eggs or embryos we have been storing may have been lost.” Two fertility clinics recently reported technical problems with storage tanks that may have damaged frozen eggs and embryos. Many of these are from women and couples struggling with infertility. Or they may have anticipated future problems – for example, banking eggs … 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
“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
