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Full-Text Articles in Law

Health Care Law: Breaking Down The Boundaries Of Malpractice Law, Philip G. Peters Jr. Oct 2000

Health Care Law: Breaking Down The Boundaries Of Malpractice Law, Philip G. Peters Jr.

Faculty Publications

Historically, courts have treated professional malpractice cases as unique. When disputes that would otherwise have been governed by tort rules of general application have arisen in the context of medical treatment, courts have routinely constructed special rules for the resolution of those disputes. Recent evidence suggests that this penchant for special rules may be weakening and that malpractice law may be slowly melting back into the sea of tort doctrine.The three Missouri health care law cases noted in this issue are the latest evidence that courts today are more willing to resolve medical negligence actions using tort rules of general …


The Quiet Demise Of Deference To Custom: Malpractice Law At The Millenium, Philip G. Peters Jr. Jan 2000

The Quiet Demise Of Deference To Custom: Malpractice Law At The Millenium, Philip G. Peters Jr.

Faculty Publications

According to conventional wisdom, tort law allows physicians to set their own standard of care. While defendants in ordinary tort actions are expected to exercise reasonable care under the circumstances, physicians traditionally have needed only to conform to the customs of their peers. However, judicial deference to physician customs is eroding. Gradually, quietly and relentlessly, state courts are withdrawing this legal privilege. Already, a dozen states have expressly rejected deference to medical customs and another nine, although not directly addressing the role of custom, have rephrased their standard of care in terms of the reasonable physician, rather than compliance with …


Calling Dr. Love: The Physician-Patient Sexual Relationship As Grounds For Medical Malpractice - Society Pays While The Doctor And Patient Play, Scott M. Puglise Jan 2000

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 Jan 2000

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 …


Recent Case Developments, Jeffrey W. Stempel Jan 2000

Recent Case Developments, Jeffrey W. Stempel

Scholarly Works

Recent case developments in Insurance Law in the years 1999 and 2000.