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News: A 34-year-old woman, then 36 weeks pregnant, presented to Pottstown Memorial Medical Center in Philadelphia in August 2008 with signs of placental abruption. Fetal monitoring was inconclusive. A nurse and the obstetrician performed a bedside ultrasound examination and were unable to detect a fetal heartbeat. The obstetrician sought an ultrasound technician's confirmation of his diagnosis of fetal death; however, it took 75 minutes for the ultrasound technician to arrive.
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Two recent legal decisions signal a change in the way courts will view arbitration provisions, says Elliot Zemel, JD, an associate at the law firm of Fenton Nelson in Los Angeles.
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Physicians, hospitals, dentists, therapists, and a host of other healthcare providers paid about $31 billion in medical malpractice premiums in 2011, which is a new record, according to a study released recently by Patients for Fair Compensation, a group based in Alpharetta, GA, that seeks to educate the public about the costs of defensive medicine.
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Hospitals are adopting cyber liability policies in growing numbers, but other healthcare organizations are lagging behind, says Jay Sheehan, JD, senior vice president of Preferred Advantage in Hartford, CT, a division of national insurance provider Preferred Concepts.
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The $78.5 million verdict against Pottstown Memorial Medical Center in Philadelphia could have been avoided. Letting the case go to a jury was a mistake for the hospital, says Herbert S. Subin, JD, partner with the law firm of Subin Associates in New York City.
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Recent healthcare decisions should compel healthcare risk managers to reconsider their hiring process and company policies.
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Is a physician unable to exercise reasonable objectivity in providing care, or does the physician lack the requisite skill or training to help the patient?
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There is nothing like a mandatory hospital evacuation to underscore the importance of including ethics in emergency preparedness, according to Kenneth W. Goodman, PhD, professor and director of the Bioethics Program at University of Miami (FL).
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Almost half of family caregivers perform nursing and medical tasks for family members with chronic physical and cognitive conditions, often without any training, in large part because hospitals are discharging very sick patients more quickly, according to a September 2012 report released by the AARP Public Policy Institute and the United Hospital Fund.
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Refusing to have a child as a patient because of a decision made by the child's parent should always be a last resort, according to Douglas S. Diekema, MD, MPH, attending physician and director of education at the Treuman Katz Center for Pediatric Bioethics at Seattle (WA) Children's Hospital.