News
Sexual harassment
Which physician behaviors and health care workplace environments cross the line into sexual harassment?
Opinion
Physician-assisted suicide – an update
Has opinion among physicians and lawmakers shifted against legalizing physician-assisted suicide?
Opinion
Failure to diagnose is a continuing challenge
What factors are most likely to contribute to diagnosis-related malpractice claims?
Opinion
Duty vs. confidentiality
What role does foreseeability play when a physician knows a patient may be a danger to others?
Opinion
Shinal v. Toms: It’s Now Harder to Get Informed Consent
Question: Which of the following statements regarding Shinal v Toms, a recent landmark decision on informed consent, is correct?:A. The case was...
Opinion
Federal medical tort reform: Has its time come?
Three legal relative newcomers – health courts, apology laws, and safe harbors – appear to be taking center stage in any forthcoming federal tort...
Opinion
Physician liability in opioid deaths
What civil and criminal penalties can physicians face when their patients die from opioid overdoses?
Opinion
The perils of the National Practitioner Data Bank
What can be reported to the National Practitioner Data Bank, and how much impact can those reports have on physicians’ careers?
Opinion
Determining patients’ decisional capacity
When do patients no longer have the medical capacity to make their own health care decisions, and when can surrogates make those decisions for...
Opinion
Update on the False Claims Act
Battles over implied fraud and competing medical opinions may reshape the risk physicians face in False Claims Act cases.
Opinion
Update on malpractice trends
Are malpractice claims really on the decline? And how much protection do apology laws actually provide physicians?
Article
EMTALA Part III: Case law
This is the third installment of a three-part series. Question: Based on case law, which of the following statements is most appropriate regarding...
Article
Law & Medicine: How case law shapes EMTALA
In the 3 decades since Congress enacted the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, the statute has, as expected, spawned numerous lawsuits.
Article
EMTALA – statutory law
Penalties for EMTALA violations include fines up to $50,000 per violation, and/or nullification of Medicare provider agreements.
Article
Facing a medical board investigation
What steps should you take when your state medical board requests the medical records of an angry patient who has filed a formal complaint against...