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In a ruling that has risk managers and attorneys across the country watching for repercussions, the Supreme Court of Washington state recently ruled that requiring a certificate of merit for a medical malpractice case is unconstitutional.
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A woman presented at two hospital emergency departments (ED) complaining of a number of respiratory symptoms. She was not admitted and was sent home with a prescription.
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A girl was admitted to a psychiatric facility after her parents found evidence of the girl having suicidal thoughts. The parents requested in writing that the hospital not send any records of the admission to the girl's school.
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With the ongoing debate over health care reform, the idea of malpractice tort reform has gotten short shrift, but some analysts are saying the time is right to address out-of-control malpractice risks by instituting a mandatory physician review panel. Others say no, that such a system would inevitably be biased in favor of the health care defendants.
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For three weeks, lawyers representing Kent Hospital in Rhode Island were in Kent County Superior Court in Warwick, RI, battling with the attorneys representing the family of actor James Woods.
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Pendleton Memorial Methodist Hospital in New Orleans pointed out that it had met all local building and safety codes regarding its emergency generators, but that may not be a high-enough standard. The Joint Commission in Oakbrook Terrace, IL, has expectations regarding emergency preparedness that may exceed any local requirements.
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Site marking to eliminate wrong-site surgery is not required when the incision site is not certain before surgery begins, according to a clarification from The Joint Commission in Oakbrook Terrace, IL.
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A surgeon who was the director of the liver transplant program at St. Vincent Medical Center in Los Angeles was indicted recently by a federal grand jury for allegedly lying to the national organ transplant network.
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It has begun. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, JD, has taken the first action by a state attorney general involving violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) since the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) authorized state attorneys general to enforce HIPAA.
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When disaster strikes, deciding whether to flee or stick it out can be difficult even for individuals, but it is a particularly vexing problem for health care providers. In addition to the sheer logistical complexity, evacuating a hospital brings the risk of injury to patients, the associated liability, and major expenses.
