Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 9 of 9
Full-Text Articles in Law
Calling Dr. Love: The Physician-Patient Sexual Relationship As Grounds For Medical Malpractice - Society Pays While The Doctor And Patient Play, Scott M. Puglise
Calling Dr. Love: The Physician-Patient Sexual Relationship As Grounds For Medical Malpractice - Society Pays While The Doctor And Patient Play, Scott M. Puglise
Journal of Law and Health
This note examines "consensual" sexual relationships between non-mental health physicians and patients. More specifically, it examines whether such relationships ever amount to medical malpractice. Generally, a non-mental health physician would be liable under the rubric of medical malpractice only if the sexual relationship was commenced under the guise of "medical treatment." Recent cases, however, have expanded liability in certain circumstances when the physician-patient relationship has involved "counseling matters." "Counseling matters" describes talking to patients about their feelings, or discussing personal problems not necessarily related to their proposed treatment. Medical treatment supplemented by "counseling" purportedly requires greater scrutiny due to the …
Wrongful Birth And Wrongful Conception: A Parent's Need For A Cause Of Action, Mary B. Sullivan
Wrongful Birth And Wrongful Conception: A Parent's Need For A Cause Of Action, Mary B. Sullivan
Journal of Law and Health
The purpose of this note is to demonstrate the need for wrongful birth and wrongful conception claims. Arguments have been made that these claims should be combined into one cause of action. The rationale for this argument is that by combining the two claims, chaos in the courts will be reduced. This note will show the need to maintain these claims as separate from one another. This note also demonstrates the proper stance of the courts in rejecting the wrongful life cause of action. Part II of this note gives an overview of medical malpractice and the claims of wrongful …
A Proposal To Recognize A Legal Obligation On Physicians To Provide Adequate Medication To Alleviate Pain, Tonya Eippert
A Proposal To Recognize A Legal Obligation On Physicians To Provide Adequate Medication To Alleviate Pain, Tonya Eippert
Journal of Law and Health
This note seeks to show how the current practice among medical practitioners in the United States, by treating pain retroactively after it begins, is inadequate. Administering narcotics to patients on an "as needed" basis unnecessarily prolongs pain and suffering. A more effective approach, which is advocated by the Agency for Health Care Policy & Research (AHCPR), is to treat pain preventatively rather than retroactively. The myth that pain medication is addictive, and that physicians should therefore prescribe as little pain medication as possible, is just that, a myth. Patients are suffering pain in today's hospitals and at home unnecessarily. Given …
Malpractice And Other Legal Issues Preventing The Development Of Telemedicine , Christopher Caryl
Malpractice And Other Legal Issues Preventing The Development Of Telemedicine , Christopher Caryl
Journal of Law and Health
Even though most Americans have not heard of telemedicine, the federal government is already actively involved in "developing a national telemedicine strategy." This note attempts to accomplish the following: demonstrate the urgent need of rural communities to gain access to adequate health care; clarify how telemedicine can provide enhanced health care to rural communities; and analyze the legal obstacles that have prevented, thus far, the most beneficial utilization of telemedicine. In particular, this note will examine how malpractice claims arising from telemedicine consultations might be resolved. An important issue to recognize at the outset, and one that consistently reappears throughout …
Surgery By An Unauthorized Surgeon As A Battery, Thomas Lundmark
Surgery By An Unauthorized Surgeon As A Battery, Thomas Lundmark
Journal of Law and Health
This article examines the policy issues behind the doctrine of informed consent and reviews the decisional law and policies on the topic of ghost surgery. Jury instructions employed in California are also addressed. The author concludes that substitution of surgeons should not automatically prompt liability for a battery. The public policy behind the informed consent doctrine is to favor patients' self-determination over the doctor's paternalism. Imposition of liability for battery in a case where the defendant does not knowingly deviate from the consent is not necessary to effectuate this purpose.
Ridicule Or Recourse: Parents Falsely Accused Of Past Sexual Abuse Fight Back , Jeffrey M. Whitesell
Ridicule Or Recourse: Parents Falsely Accused Of Past Sexual Abuse Fight Back , Jeffrey M. Whitesell
Journal of Law and Health
This Note argues that wrongly accused parents should be granted standing by the courts to bring suit against therapists who negligently suggest that their children are victims of sexual abuse. The first section will analyze the validity of recovered memories obtained through the use of various suggestive techniques. The second section will explore the various causes of action that courts are considering actionable by innocent third parties against the therapists who implant false memories. The causes of action that will be analyzed are malpractice, negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, defamation, loss of companionship and society, and breach of contract. …
Doctors, Nurses And Superseding Cause: The Demise Of The Last In Time Defense, Charles Lattanzi
Doctors, Nurses And Superseding Cause: The Demise Of The Last In Time Defense, Charles Lattanzi
Journal of Law and Health
The question which naturally arises is whether the determination of superseding cause in this context is a question for the jury. Ohio case law has long held, as a matter of law, that the aggravation of an injury by the subsequent malpractice of a physician never breaks the chain of causation. Assuming that the original tortfeaser was negligent and that his actions caused the original injury, the only question left for the jury is whether the plaintiff herself exercised reasonable care in seeking treatment by a qualified physician. This rule was affirmed and given its common appellation, "the subsequent tortfeasor …
A New Predicament For Physicians: The Concept Of Medical Futility, The Physician's Obligation To Render Inappropriate Treatment, And The Interplay Of The Medical Standard Of Care, Eric M. Levine
Journal of Law and Health
Part II of this article discusses the concept of futility and reviews various proposed approaches to defining "futility". This article then shows how personal value judgments play an integral part in determining futility under virtually all of these approaches. Part II concludes that a decision that treatment is futile should not be based on the individual values of only the patient or physician under the shared decisionmaking model of the physician-patient relationship. Part III tackles the issue whether a physician must offer or continue treatment deemed "medically and ethically inappropriate." Part III first reviews common law doctrines governing the physician-patient …
Resolving The Medical Malpractice Crisis: Alternatives To Litigation, Allen K. Hutkin
Resolving The Medical Malpractice Crisis: Alternatives To Litigation, Allen K. Hutkin
Journal of Law and Health
This article will review the societal and individual costs of the present medical malpractice system, analyze current efforts to reform the system, and propose several alternatives for consideration. These alternatives include expanding the use of alternative dispute resolution, reformulating the doctor/patient relationship, expanding the scope of conventional hospital risk management and modifying the manner in which medical malpractice insurance is presently provided.