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In a case related to the alleged delay in providing care to a patient, an emergency physician (EP) was accused of altering the time that he ordered certain treatments for the patient.
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In 2013, an emergency department (ED) director was terminated after commenting on a patients photo, which had been posted on Facebook by an ED nurse.1 In a similar case the same year, an emergency physician (EP) was sued after posting a photo of an intoxicated patient that included comments.
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Certain diagnoses have recurrently and consistently been the bane of emergency department (ED) physicians, with regard to malpractice payouts year after year. They continue to be missed, and lead to some of the larger awards. Below we present several recent typical cases to raise awareness and avoid liability.
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The risk of an Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act (EMTALA) lawsuit involving a patient with psychiatric illness is low, according to a recent study.1 If emergency physicians (EPs) perform appropriate medical screening examinations, the lawsuit is rarely successful.
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The value of hyperbaric oxygen therapy for the treatment of CO-poisoned patients, and its ability to prevent long-term cognitive sequelae, has been debated for years among toxicology and hyperbaric experts. This study from the University of Utah addressed this difficult issue.
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Crowther and associates tested the hypothesis that oral vitamin K would reduce high international normalized ratio values faster than subcutaneous vitamin K.
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A systematic approach with an understanding of the pathophysiology can help the clinician correctly diagnose and treat metabolic alkalosis, a condition that carries a high morbidity and mortality rate.
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In this retrospective study of the GUSTO-1 database, investigators compared clinical outcomes of more than 25,000 patients with acute myocardial infarction who were treated with fibrinolytic therapy in U.S. hospitals with and without coronary revascularization capability for percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty and coronary artery bypass grafting.
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The authors of this study in the New England Journal of Medicine evaluated participants enrolled in the Framingham Heart Study between 1971 and 1998 who reported syncopal events.
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Ideally, caring for a patient with a presenting problem that is psychiatric in nature can be a positive, rewarding experience. However, problems with a patient who has a psychiatric condition can become multifaceted.
