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Medical Jurisprudence Commons

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Articles 1 - 15 of 15

Full-Text Articles in Medical Jurisprudence

Choosing Medical Malpractice, Nadia N. Sawicki Jul 2019

Choosing Medical Malpractice, Nadia N. Sawicki

Nadia N. Sawicki

Modern principles of patient autonomy and health care consumerism are at odds with medical malpractice law's traditional skepticism towards the defenses of contractual waiver and assumption of risk. Many American courts follow a patient-protective view, exemplified by the reasoning in the seminal Tunkl case, rejecting any attempts by physicians to relieve themselves of liability on the grounds of a patient's agreement to assume the risk of malpractice. However, where patients pursue unconventional treatments that satisfy their personal preferences but that arguably fall outside the standard of care, courts have good reason to be more receptive to such defenses. This Article …


Loss Of Chance, Probabilistic Cause, And Damage Calculations: The Error In Matsuyama V. Birnbaum And The Majority Rule Of Damages In Many Jurisdictions More Generally, Robert J. Rhee Sep 2015

Loss Of Chance, Probabilistic Cause, And Damage Calculations: The Error In Matsuyama V. Birnbaum And The Majority Rule Of Damages In Many Jurisdictions More Generally, Robert J. Rhee

Robert Rhee

This short commentary corrects an erroneous understanding of probabilistic causation in the loss-of-chance doctrine and the damage calculation method adopted in Matsuyama v. Birnbaum. The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts is not alone. Many other common law courts have made the same error, including Indiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, and Oklahoma. The consistency in the mistake suggests that the error is the majority rule of damages. I demonstrate here that this majority rule is based on erroneous mathematical reasoning and the fallacy of probabilistic logic.


The Treatment For Malpractice – Physician, Enhance Thyself: The Impact Of Neuroenhancements For Medical Malpractice, Harvey L. Fiser Aug 2015

The Treatment For Malpractice – Physician, Enhance Thyself: The Impact Of Neuroenhancements For Medical Malpractice, Harvey L. Fiser

Harvey L. Fiser

Coming to a hospital near you, the medically enhanced doctor - a doctor who thinks faster, is better with short and long term memory, is calmer during surgery, can work double shifts with little cognitive fatigue, and one day may have the memories of years of experience without actually having had them. With the expanded use of cognitive enhancing pharmaceuticals such as Adderall, Provigil, and more on the way, we are already seeing changes in education and the corporate world. From reaching a “normal” status for a person with an ADHD diagnosis to creating the “supernormal” employee with cognitive enhancers, …


The Treatment For Malpractice – Physician, Enhance Thyself: The Impact Of Neuroenhancements For Medical Malpractice, Harvey L. Fiser Aug 2015

The Treatment For Malpractice – Physician, Enhance Thyself: The Impact Of Neuroenhancements For Medical Malpractice, Harvey L. Fiser

Harvey L. Fiser

No abstract provided.


Universal Health Care And The Continued Reliance On Custom In Determining Medical Malpractice, James A. Henderson Jr., John A. Siliciano Feb 2015

Universal Health Care And The Continued Reliance On Custom In Determining Medical Malpractice, James A. Henderson Jr., John A. Siliciano

John A. Siliciano

No abstract provided.


Wealth, Equity, And The Unitary Medical Malpractice Standard, John A. Siliciano Feb 2015

Wealth, Equity, And The Unitary Medical Malpractice Standard, John A. Siliciano

John A. Siliciano

No abstract provided.


Medical Malpractice Reform Measures And Their Effects, Robert Leflar Jun 2013

Medical Malpractice Reform Measures And Their Effects, Robert Leflar

Robert B Leflar

New rules and methods for medical injury dispute resolution have been launched in New Hampshire and New York, and demonstration projects are underway elsewhere. This article describes major medical malpractice reforms undertaken and proposed in recent years. Reforms are classified as (1) liability-limiting initiatives favoring health-care providers; (2) procedural innovations promoted as improving dispute resolution processes, such as patient compensation funds, “sorry” laws, disclosure and early offer laws, health courts, and safe harbor laws; and (3) major conceptual reforms to move liability away from physicians to hospitals or administrative no-fault compensation systems. Empirical evidence about the practical effects of already-implemented …


Loss Of Chance, Probabilistic Cause, And Damage Calculations: The Error In Matsuyama V. Birnbaum And The Majority Rule Of Damages In Many Jurisdictions More Generally, Robert J. Rhee Apr 2013

Loss Of Chance, Probabilistic Cause, And Damage Calculations: The Error In Matsuyama V. Birnbaum And The Majority Rule Of Damages In Many Jurisdictions More Generally, Robert J. Rhee

Robert Rhee

This short commentary corrects an erroneous understanding of probabilistic causation in the loss-of-chance doctrine and the damage calculation method adopted in Matsuyama v. Birnbaum. The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts is not alone. Many other common law courts have made the same error, including Indiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, and Oklahoma. The consistency in the mistake suggests that the error is the majority rule of damages. I demonstrate here that this majority rule is based on erroneous mathematical reasoning and the fallacy of probabilistic logic.


In Defense Of The Professional Standard Of Care: A Response To Carter Williams On "Evidence-Based Medicine", Ann Maclean Massie Jan 2013

In Defense Of The Professional Standard Of Care: A Response To Carter Williams On "Evidence-Based Medicine", Ann Maclean Massie

Ann MacLean Massie

No abstract provided.


One Hundred Years Of Harmful Error: The Historical Jurisprudence Of Medical Malpractice, Theodore Silver Jul 2011

One Hundred Years Of Harmful Error: The Historical Jurisprudence Of Medical Malpractice, Theodore Silver

Theodore Silver

In this Article, Professor Silver examines the origins of present-day malpractice law. He begins by noting that negligence and medical malpractice as the common law now knows them made their debut in the nineteenth century although their roots lie deep in the turf of trespass and assumpsit. He argues, however, that toward the turn of the century several episodes of linguistic laziness purported to produce a separation between negligence and medical malpractice so that the two fields are conventionally thought to rest on separate doctrinal foundations. According to Professor Silver, historically based scrutiny of medical malpractice and its ties to …


Public And Private Justice: Redressing Health Care Harm In Japan, Robert B. Leflar Dec 2010

Public And Private Justice: Redressing Health Care Harm In Japan, Robert B. Leflar

Robert B Leflar

Japanese legal structures addressing health care-related deaths and injuries rely more on public law institutions and rules than do the common-law North American jurisdictions, where private law adjudication is predominant. This article explores four developments in 21st-century Japanese health care law. The first two are in the public law sphere: criminal prosecutions of health care personnel accused of medical errors, and a health ministry-sponsored “Model Project” to analyze medical-practice-associated deaths. The article addresses a private law innovation: health care divisions of trial courts in several metropolitan areas. Finally, the article introduces Japan’s new no-fault program for compensating birth-related obstetrical injuries. …


Medical Malpractice From A Surgeons Surgical Instruments, Andre77 S. Brown Nov 2010

Medical Malpractice From A Surgeons Surgical Instruments, Andre77 S. Brown

andre77 S Brown

Hello, My name is Andre Brown and I’m a medical researcher for HNM Medical. I’ve written an article about medical malpractice that I would like to share you to post on your site. You may have full reprint rights to this article as long as you include the 3 links with do follow attributes that I have included in the body. - Please see the attachment for the article


Accountable Care Organizations: The Clash Of Liability Standards With Cost Cutting Goals, Christopher R. Smith Esq. Jan 2010

Accountable Care Organizations: The Clash Of Liability Standards With Cost Cutting Goals, Christopher R. Smith Esq.

Christopher R Smith

This article seeks to examine the conflict between non-cost conscious medical malpractice liability standards and health care cost cutting measures within the context of Accountable Care Organizations (“ACOs”) under the new health care reform law. The article begins by providing an overview of the high level of health care spending within the United States health care system in order to provide a context for better understanding policymakers’ push for cost cutting measures, including ACOs. The article then examines the tension between cost containment efforts and provider medical liability standards through an examination of the “stuck in the middle” mentality that …


My Doctor Made Me Crazy: Can A Medical Malpractice Plaintiff Allege Psychological Damages Without Making Credibility The Issue?, Brendan T. Beery Dec 2009

My Doctor Made Me Crazy: Can A Medical Malpractice Plaintiff Allege Psychological Damages Without Making Credibility The Issue?, Brendan T. Beery

Brendan T Beery

This article explores the issue of psychological damages and challenges the pervasive notion among defense lawyers in medical malpractice cases that medical and psychological evidence obtained in discovery can be used to embarrass a medical malpractice plaintiff in front of a jury.


The Regulation Of Medical Malpractice In Japan, Robert Leflar Dec 2008

The Regulation Of Medical Malpractice In Japan, Robert Leflar

Robert B Leflar

How Japanese legal and social institutions handle medical errors is little known outside Japan. For almost all of the 20th century, a paternalistic paradigm prevailed. Characteristics of the legal environment affecting Japanese medicine included few attorneys handling medical cases, low litigation rates, long delays, predictable damage awards, and low-cost malpractice insurance. However, transparency principles have gained traction and public concern over medical errors has intensified. Recent legal developments include courts' adoption of a less deferential standard of informed consent; increases in the numbers of malpractice claims and of practicing attorneys; more efficient claims handling by specialist judges and speedier trials; …