Emergency Medicine - Adult and Pediatric
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These Suits Against EPs Became Indefensible: Medical Records Were Altered
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. -
Social Media Can Lead to Suits Against EP for Malpractice, Civil Defamation
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. -
Classic Heavy Hitters: Tricky Diagnoses That Recurrently Lead to Large Malpractice Payouts
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. -
EMTALA Lawsuits Involving Psychiatric Patients Held in ED Rarely Successful
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. -
Emergency Medicine Reports - Full November 30, 2014 Issue in PDF
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The Photosensitive Patient
A 65-year-old female presents to the emergency department with a chief complaint of a severe rash. The rash has been present for two weeks on her arms, neck, and scalp. It began while she was sitting on her porch one afternoon. She denies any associated fevers, chills, headache, or muscle ache. She denies any exposure to pets, new soaps, detergents, or lotions, and she denies recent travel.
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Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants in the ICU
Using retrospective cohort data from a national survey of medical and mixed medical-surgical ICUs, this study found that nurse practitioner (NP)/physician assistant (PA) staffing was common and not associated with any differences in in-hospital mortality compared to ICUs without NP/PAs. -
Dehydration Is a Poor Prognostic Sign in Acute Ischemic Stroke Patients
Dehydration is an independent predictor of discharge outcome and admission cost in acute ischaemic stroke. -
Unplanned Extubations as a Quality-of-Care Issue
Reintubation following unplanned extubation in critically ill post-operative patients is associated with increased hospital mortality. -
After-Hours ICU Discharge: A Potentially Modifiable Cause of Increased Hospital Mortality
Examination of outcomes in 710,535 patients in relation to the timing of ICU discharge showed that being moved out to the ward between 1800 and 0600 hours was associated with increased risks of both in-hospital death and unplanned ICU readmission.