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A young man went to an emergency department in the afternoon complaining of discomfort in his throat. Surgery was performed to address an abscess. That evening, after his family had gone home, he suffered from cardiac arrhythmia, went into a coma, and died three days later. His wife and two sons brought suit for wrongful death.
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A post-kidney transplant patient was admitted to a hospital with urosepsis and was placed in the intensive care unit. He was intubated; but when his airway became obstructed, efforts to correct the situation were unsuccessful, and he died. The case settled for $800,000.
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Nearly every document that makes any mention of a patient in your facility can be considered protected health information under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), says Veronica A. Marsich, JD, a shareholder with the law firm of Smith Haughey in East Lansing, MI, specializing in health care issues.
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Recent cases involving the undertreatment of pain, the over-treatment of pain (and thereby the creation of addicts), and whether drug seekers have any legal rights to pain management have created management problems for the emergency physician. This issue of ED Legal Letter will look at some of these cases. The author addresses recent changes in pain management medications, and readers will be able to develop a practical approach to the patient with pain with fewer worries about the legal consequences.
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This case reinforces the basic notion that all health care providers have a responsibility to assure that their patients are receiving appropriate care in a timely manner.
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Here is what you need to know about the class action lawsuits filed against some of the largest nonprofit hospitals in the United States.
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The newly released 2005 National Patient Safety Goals indicate that the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) will put special emphasis on efforts to reduce patient falls, infections, and misidentification of patients.
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Because the majority of perinatal death and injury cases reported root causes related to problems with organizational culture and with communication among caregivers, JCAHO offers these recommendations.
