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Pertussis, commonly known as the "whooping cough," is an infection of the upper respiratory tract leading to a protracted cough illness. Emergency physicians should become familiar with the diagnosis and management of this disease, given the potential of pertussis infections to cause serious morbidity and mortality in young infants.
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A lawsuit involving a terrible outcome, but good emergency department (ED) care, seemed "very defensible" to Matthew Rice, MD, JD, FACEP, former senior vice president and chief medical officer at Northwest Emergency Physicians of TEAMHealth in Federal Way, WA. Rice was about to recommend that the hospital vigorously defend the case, but it never got to that point.
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Today, it is standard practice for attorneys to do an Internet search on any adverse party and witness, according to Robert D. Kreisman, a medical malpractice attorney with Kreisman Law Offices in Chicago.
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If there was the potential for a better outcome if a patient was transferred, and the patient was harmed and can show that you breached the standard of care, a successful lawsuit could result, says Michael Blaivas, MD, RDMS, professor of emergency medicine in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Northside Hospital Forsyth in Cumming, GA.
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With some hospitals being designated as demonstrating excellence in the care of stroke patients, does this mean a patient can successfully sue the ED if he or she is not treated at one of those facilities?
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Online posts often contain more data than were really intended, says Michael Blaivas, MD, RDMS, professor of emergency medicine in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Northside Hospital Forsyth in Cumming, GA, and patients may be able to pick themselves out.
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As ED overcrowding becomes more widespread, the companion problem of ambulance diversion becomes increasingly acute at EDs across the nation.
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If you forget to tell an inpatient nurse that your ED patient has an allergy or was given a certain medication, the consequences could be dire.
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Minor respiratory complaints were all that a man reported to ED nurses at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, but in fact, he was suicidal.
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Are you able to try sticking your patient more than once or twice? Can you wait for the best possible nurse to be free? Do you need to consider alternative access immediately?
