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The hospital that staffed the “cowboy” surgeon failed in its duty to protect the community from the unsavory practices of this unproctored, non-credentialed member of their medical staff. Given the fact that hospital and medical staff leadership not only were aware of his rogue behavior, but they encouraged and enabled the behavior until the inevitable occurred and a life was lost, the breach of duty and the culpability of the defendant parties is overwhelmingly apparent.
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The issue in this case is whether MICRA’s cap on noneconomic damages applies to actions against physician assistants where a licensed physician is legally responsible for supervising the physician assistant but provides minimal or no actual supervision.
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An analysis by the CDC and CMS indicates important metrics in patient safety reversed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The Biden administration is promising an effort to improve safety and quality of care in the nation’s nursing homes. The fact sheet foreshadows substantially stiffer oversight and harsher enforcement.
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OSHA is reopening the rulemaking record to allow for new data and comments on the Emergency Temporary Standard issued June 21, 2021, intended to protect workers in healthcare settings from occupational exposure to COVID-19.
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OSHA’s COVID-19 Focused Inspection Initiative in Healthcare is underway, with inspectors visiting hospitals and other healthcare facilities to determine compliance with requirements related to the pandemic.
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Discovery requests from plaintiffs’ attorneys can be overly broad in an attempt to obtain records the defendant does not have to provide. However, the bar is high when making that claim to the court. The defense can object to what it considers an overly broad discovery request, but the objection often is unsuccessful because the scope of discovery is quite broad.
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Discovery is one of the first steps in malpractice litigation. It is crucial for risk managers to understand what information can be demanded by opposing attorneys. A proper understanding of the process can guide both how healthcare organizations conduct investigations and the outcome of litigation.
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COVID-19 vaccination and pregnancy issues have been clouded by misinformation, leading women who are pregnant or trying to become pregnant to decline immunization. The accumulating evidence strongly suggests not only does vaccination safeguard pregnant women against severe infection, it confers protective immunity to the newborn baby.
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OSHA has briefly reopened comments and slated a public hearing for April 27 as it moves to finalize its Emergency Temporary Standard to protect healthcare workers from COVID-19.
