ED Legal Letter – November 1, 2006
November 1, 2006
View Issues
-
Hospital not liable for sleep-deprived intern's motor vehicle crash
In the case of 'Brewster v Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center,' the appellate court of Illinois had to decide whether a hospital owes a duty to a person injured by an off-duty intern suffering from sleep deprivation due to the hospital's policy on working hours. -
Does ED ultrasound really increase risk of a lawsuit?
With an increasing number of emergency department (ED) physicians using ultrasound, are malpractice lawsuits also on the rise? Quite the contrary, according to proponents of ED ultrasound. -
What one ED physician missed on an ultrasound
An ultrasound image shows a patient who had been shot in the chest and was not doing well. The physician thought the patient's lung was collapsed, and he put in a chest tube. -
New legislation protects ED staff who ID unsafe care
The Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 provides full privilege for information shared with a patient safety organization, with the goal of encouraging voluntary error reporting. -
Special Report: Emergency Physician Contracts: Terms to Ponder, Part II
In the September issue of ED Legal Letter, two common contract clauses - malpractice insurance and restrictive covenants--that can be harmful to the interests of an emergency physician.