“Telehealth has come into focus during the COVID-19 pandemic as physicians face an immediate need to reduce exposure by providing care—or at least triage—remotely when appropriate. Under usual circumstances, telemedicine is comparatively low risk…
Category: Malpractice
Why doctors must learn how to advocate
Every doctor is an advocate, and every health care provider advocates. An advocate is someone who publicly supports something. Doctors advocate for avoiding smoking, losing weight, and taking medications. In those instances, doctors are advocating for …
In the aftermath of COVID-19, plaintiff attorneys will have a field day
Before COVID-19, the health care system was plagued by another epidemic: malpractice lawsuits. Much is expected of doctors, and disappointments have consequences. Lawsuits are too often a consequence. Under normal conditions, there are 46,000 malpract…
Celebrate health care workers by not suing them
In New York City, each evening at 7 p.m., the sound of people banging on pots and pans can be heard from apartment buildings within an earshot of hospitals all over the city. The cacophonous clanging is a salute to the beleaguered health care workers w…
Medical error disclosure programs: Old habits die hard
A radical change is emerging from within our health care system: Rather than deny or defend medical errors, some hospitals are acknowledging them upfront. This enlightened response has been gaining ground since 2001 when the University of Michigan Hosp…
What Chernobyl can teach physicians about avoiding medical errors
I recently started watching the HBO series Chernobyl, chronicling the events surrounding the 1986 disaster. For anyone who hasn’t seen it yet—I’d highly recommend this excellent production (It’s already deservedly won multiple awards). The great thing …
Medical error is not the third leading cause of death
Ever since the publication of the infamous 2016 BMJ opinion piece claiming medical error should be considered the third leading cause of death in the U.S., the debate on the true incidence of deaths caused by medical error has been raging. Many, includ…
Doctor by day, law student by night
I am a middle-aged, full-time emergency physician, and part-time law student. Usually, I practice medicine during the day and attend law classes in the evening. Sometimes I have law classes in the afternoon or early evening then work in the emergency d…
A solution to reduce defensive medicine
An excerpt from Technology and the Doctor-Patient Relationship. As disturbing as the structure of malpractice insurance is in America, a more significant problem is the defensive style of medical practice it induces. In a large-scale survey done by Jac…
An attorney pushes back on a physician’s critique of the medical liability system
I was struck by a post by Dr. Saurabh Jha about his views of the jury system — as some of his comments mirrored things I’ve said to juries in the past. Some things he got right, which go to the core our civil justice system. Some things, however, not s…
