Healthcare Risk Management articles from June 2003

Healthcare Risk Management archives from June 2003

Cerebral palsy report: it's no panacea, but it could be major defense in court: plaintiffs likely to challenge report as biased.
June 1, 2003... A recently issued report will be a boon to defendants in cerebral palsy malpractice cases, but it won t eliminate this brand of high-dollar cases or create an insurmountable burden for plaintiffs' attorneys, experts say. The report, from...

Cerebral palsy not usually related to birth process.
June 1, 2003... This background on cerebral palsy and summary of the new findings was provided by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG): Neonatal encephalopathy and its subset of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) are...

EMTALA requires docs to be on call, but not 24/7. (Reader Question).(Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act)
June 1, 2003... Reader question: Does the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) require that our hospital's medical staff be required to provide on-call physician services 24 hours a day and 365 days a year? We know the law requires that...

Pelvic exams by students, residents are growing risk. (Reader Question).
June 1, 2003... The public is becoming aware of a practice thatmakes even some experienced medical professionals uncomfortable, greatly increasing the chances that an irate patient will sue for malpractice or even file charges of assault. Though it has been...

OSHA issues ergonomic rules for nursing homes. (Reader Question).
June 1, 2003... In a move that will add one more regulatory concern to the risk manager s plate, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently issued the first in a series of industry-specific guidelines for the prevention of...

Reader: consent and its role in reprocessed SUDs. (Reader Feedback).(single use devices)
June 1, 2003... To the Editor:. I read with interest the article about the study by the Center for Patient Advocacy involving reprocessed single-use devices (SUDs) in the February 2003 issue of Healthcare Risk Management. Included in the article is advice...

CE questions.
June 1, 2003... If you have any questions about this testing method, please contact customer service at (800) 688-2421. 21. Referring to the report issued recently by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Academy of...

Swarm of fire ants attacks nursing home patient resident: $5.35 million Alabama verdict.
June 1, 2003... News: One summer evening, fire ants attacked a 79-year-old nursing home patient resident as she lay in her bed. The next day, the patient's daughter took her to a regularly scheduled doctor's appointment outside of the facility, and the...

Psychosurgery leads to a $7.5 million verdict in Ohio.
June 1, 2003... News: For years a woman suffered from an obsessive-compulsive disorder, which she believed would be corrected through psychosurgery. The procedure resulted in complete incapacitation, and she brought suit against the provider. She was awarded...