Health Law and Policy Commons^™

Surgery Of Major Blood Vessels: Standards Of Care, Victor G. Dewolfe

Cleveland State Law Review

This article presents a "technical standards of care." approach to the question of malpractice. The article describes a common disease, its symptoms and proper diagnosis, proper methods of treatment and surgery, and the probable results. The footnotes give briefly the various aspects of liability of the physician for malpractice, which liability may arise due to mistakes, negligence or unexpected occurrences in this type of treatment.

Doctor, Lawyer, And Hosptial Administrator: A New Triangle, Howard L. Oleck

Cleveland State Law Review

Hospitals are deeply invovled in the great majority of medicolegal case problems. Yet surprisingly little attention has been given to the relation of the hospital to doctor lawyer-patient situations as a factor in itself. Most discussions of hospitals and law deal generally with hospital liability for negligence of hospital agents-as though the hospital were a monolithic entity in itself. Lawyers seldom look further into the relation of the doctor to the hospital administration and vice versa; deeming this to be a matter of small concern to them. Doctors, of course, know well the importance of hospital politics and procedures to …

Third Party Medicine--A Modern Gordian Knot, Donald D. Harkins

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Medicolegal Aspects Of Alcoholism, Naoma Lee Stewart

Cleveland State Law Review

Since the passage of three centuries has seen the explanation for excessive drinking progress from a vice to a disease, it is pertinent to have a brief study of the recent findings about alcoholism in order to compare these newer medical concepts with some of the legal principles on drunkenness which have been long and firmly established in the law.

Paternity And Prolonged Pregnancy, Irwin N. Perr

Cleveland State Law Review

The question of paternity and prolonged pregnancy is a subject not only of great professional interest to lawyers and physicians, but is one that all of us find sometimes intriguing, sometimes humorous, and sometimes tragic.

Effects Of Radiation On Man, Clinton C. Powell

Vanderbilt Law Review

Shortly after the discovery of natural radioactivity and of x-rays(now more properly known as roentgen rays) during the final decade of the last century, it became apparent that these invisible radiations could produce serious effects on the human body in a relatively short period of time. Three or four decades ago additional effects became apparent in individuals who had received relatively large radiation exposures. The cumulative nature of radiation effects and the fact that detectable changes may be delayed for many years have become increasingly apparent with the passage of time. The rapid expansion in potential exposure accompanying the discovery …

The Law Of Reactor Safety, Harold P. Green

Vanderbilt Law Review

Nuclear reactors are devices for creating and controlling nuclear chain reactions. Reactors come in many sizes and shapes and have various uses. The most dramatic and probably the most important use of reactors from the economic standpoint is to provide power in the form of electricity or heat. Some such power reactors may be stationary; others may be mobile, e.g., those which exist to provide propulsive force and hence move from place to place with their vehicle. Other reactors may be used for various industrial purposes such as for the testing of materials. Still other reactors are used primarily for …

Tort Liability For Radiation Injuries, E. Blythe Stason

Vanderbilt Law Review

The discovery that atomic chain reaction will produce substantial quantities of heat together with highly radioactive by-products gives rise to anticipation of an entirely new technology and of many newlines of industrial, medical, and agricultural endeavor. In due course widespread use will be made of the potentialities of this new source of energy.At the same time the likelihood of personal and property injuries resulting from overexposure to radiation brings about a new hazard against which protection must be afforded so far as it is possible to do so. The health and safety codes that are now being formulated at national, …

Atomic Energy And The Law: A Bibliography, Eileen M. Murphy

Vanderbilt Law Review

To compile a bibliography, it is a prerequisite that one be a lover of books. It is hoped that this paper will be of assistance to those in need and secondarily, that it might possibly open the world of the bibliophile to many others and give Brooklyn a little competition. Atomic energy is a fascinating field for the bibliographer; the surface has yet to be scratched. The work presented is divided into seven sections:

I. Atomic Energy Legislation, 1946-1958.

II. Publications of the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, 1945/46-1958.

III. Books. (Annotated.)

IV. Periodicals-U. S. and Foreign. (Annotated.)

V. Selected …

Epilepsy And The Law, Irwin N. Perr

Cleveland State Law Review

Epilepsy is one of the few medical conditions which have been singled out both in common law and in statutory law. In addition, epilepsy has become increasingly important as it may be a sequel to head injuries, and thus the lawyer dealing with personal injury cases must have some acquaintance with epilepsy and its problems.The first part of this paper will be a simplified description of epilepsy with emphasis on those aspects which may be of some importance to the law. This will be followed by discussion of epilepsy in relation to various laws on marriage, sterilization, automobile driving, and …

A Study Of Fatal Trauma, Earl B. Sanborn

Cleveland State Law Review

Treatment of the complications of the injured patient is frequently more important than the injury itself. Such complications as shock, traumatic wet lung, atelectases, etc., are a direct result of the injury. Patients may suffer obvious severe trauma, only to die of the unrecognized and untreated complication. Postmortem examinations establish the nature, extent and effect of trauma-i.e., causation, from the lawyer's as well as the physician's point of view.In all cases of death following traumatic accident, the lawyer should investigate the unapparent as well as the obvious injuries; ordinarily by use of autopsy. In a surprising number of cases inadequate …

Frontal Injuries Of The Skull, Paul H. Crandall

Cleveland State Law Review

Results of injuries to the frontal parts of the skull are often serious but treatable by prompt surgery. Various types of fractures are common. Most dangerous is the possibility of infection in the interior cavities of the skull. X-ray study of such injuries is practically mandatory. Failure to give prompt and proper treatment often results in serious complications later. Any injury to the frontal parts of the skull should be viewed by attorneys as serious, with strong probability of future complications except perhaps when prompt medical attention of highly modern character has forestalled some of the possible complications.

Secondary Effects Of Trauma: (Pain) Sympathetic Dystrophies, Louis W. Lewis

Cleveland State Law Review

Sympathetic Dystrophy or causalgia (pain) is a disability following traumatic injury. It consists of burning pain, glossy sweating, skin changes, and exquisite tenderness caused by tissue damage involving the sympathetic nervous system. Treatment consists of "blocking" the sympathetic nerves to the area by injecting drugs or by surgical repair. As the item of "pain and suffering" always is a major factor in a lawyer's estimate of the proper amount of a damage award, the medical analysis here presented is of wide interest and utility to lawyers as well as to physicians.

Relation Of Trauma, Disease, And Law - Panel Discussion, Joseph A. Cox, Alfred Koerner, S. Charles Franco, Kenneth H. Macgregor

Cleveland State Law Review

A symposium on "Relation of Trama, Disease, and Law." The symposium took place under the auspices of the Amerian Board of Legal Medicine Inc., in conjucntion with the sesquicentennial meeting of the Medical Society of the State of New York.

The Physician-Patient Privilege In Virginia, James W. Payne Jr.

University of Richmond Law Review

It seems settled that at common law there was no privilege whereby either a patient or a physician could suppress evidence of communications made by one to the other. Most commentators have argued that there is no justification for such a privilege.

Premenstrual Tension, Medicine And Law, Irwin N. Perr

Cleveland State Law Review

The premenstrual tension syndrome is one characterized by emotional and physiologic symptoms occurring in the period preceding menstruation. A medical re-evaluation and description for the attorney may serve to clarify a subject full of misunderstandings, superstitions and false concepts.

Diagnosis And Treatment Of The Modern Backache, A. W. Humphries, C. E. Wasmuth

Cleveland State Law Review

There are two reasonably clear-cut forms of backache that lend themselves to a reasonably straight-forward form of treatment. These are (1) the ruptured intervertebral disc and (2) the degenerated intervertebral disc. In both instances, once a diagnosis can be reasonably made, treatment is at first conservative, and this form of treatment frequently issuccessful. In the absence of success, an operative procedure is available which offers reasonable hope of correction of the difficulty.

Standards Of Care In Anesthesiology, Carl E. Wasmuth

Cleveland State Law Review

Diplomates of the American Board of Anesthesiology must meet the rigid requirements of this specialty. Anesthesiologists in all sections of the country must meet the same requirements. Hence, the anesthesiologist in a small town is as well qualified as the anesthesiologist practicing in a large city. With this basic premise in mind, it is not difficult, therefore, to set down the medical standards of care in anesthesiology - which in turn determine the legal standards of care in this specialty.

Non-Penetrating Wounds Of The Chest, Harry W. Hale Jr., J. Walter Martin

Cleveland State Law Review

The heart may be seriously injured by compression of the chest by a steering wheel in automobile accidents or in other injuries by non-penetrating blows to the chest. These injuries vary from a simple bruise of the heart to actual laceration of heart muscle and heart valves. The changes may be identified by electrocardiograph and changes in heart rhythm. Attorneys should make certain that any injury by a blow to the chest is studied by a cardiologist, using not one but a series of electrocardiographs, as even seemingly harmless blows to the chest may result in injuries equivalent to heart …

Lethal Lesions In Aircraft Accidents, H. G. Mosely

Cleveland State Law Review

While most aircraft accident fatalities result from multiple lethal injuries, a significant number are caused by single identifiable lesions such as internal vascular tears (e.g., hemorrhage) especially in the brain area, which prompt surgical action may prevent from being fatal.Lawyers investigating such cases should ascertain whether or not medical treatment was prompt and skillful enough in the particular circumstances, and whether the particular injury (i.e., lesion) which actually caused death was identified and treated.

The Mallet Finger Injury, Donald R. Pratt

Cleveland State Law Review

Mallet finger is a permanent deformity caused by injury to the distal phalanx of a finger. Commonly seen in industrial accidents and in baseball players, the extending tendon is pulled off the bone of the terminal phalanx. Treatment consists of simple splinting (illustrated) in mild trauma, or surgical intervention when large bony fragments have been pulled off. If left untreated, some degree of drop finger ultimately develops. This disability varies in degree. Joint stiffness and deformity may result. A method of surgical treat- ment of more severe injuries is described.The chief importance of this injury, to the lawyer, is in …

Alcoholism And The Law, Melvin L. Selzer

Michigan Law Review

The American public has recently been subjected to a deluge of articles and books on the subject of alcoholism. While these contributions have been filled with valuable information, certain omissions have been noticeable. These omitted facts are of vital significance to any one wanting to gain insight into the broad problem of alcoholism. The first omission is a failure to stress that no one-or almost no one-knows who is alcoholic. This may include the alcoholic himself. It is a point of considerable importance in determining the proper disposition of certain criminal cases.

Malpractice And The Statute Of Limitations

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Atoms For Peace: The New International Atomic Energy Agency, Bernhard G. Bechhoefer, Eric Stein

Michigan Law Review

On October 26, 1956 seventy states signed an international agreement described as the Statute of an International Atomic Energy Agency. This signing followed a conference of over a month in which eighty-two states participated. All of the participating states supported the text which resulted from this conference-a truly remarkable result considering that the subject of the conference was atomic energy with its far-reaching international security implications.

Radiation Injury: A Technical And Legal Survey, Andrew J. Humphrey

Cleveland State Law Review

In the field of radiation damage much has been written and many scientific opinions have been given. As to legal decisions,there is much to criticize from a technical point of view in the early X-ray cases, particularly in regard to the leeway allowed to physicians in treating their patients through use of a new tool. The following survey is intended to serve to give to the lawyer a basic working knowledge of the subject of radiation. With this, plus knowledge of general principles of law, common sense should enable him to get his client's point across to the judge and …

Fluoroscopic X-Ray Shoe Fitting Devices, Donald D. Weisberger

Cleveland State Law Review

Exposure to X-rays or other radiation over and above a certain cumulative tolerance limit can be damaging to the human body. This fact is thoroughly explained in Mr. Humphrey's article on Radiation in this issue of this law review. But a person thus injured by x-ray radiation from so-called fluoroscopic fitting machines in shoe stores will find it virtually impossible to make out a cause of action in negligence against the owners and operators of the machines. Yet, use of such machines now is known to be seriously harmful, unless that use is closely controlled.

The Pathologist And The Autopsy, Lawrence J. Mccormack

Cleveland State Law Review

The autopsy, properly performed, remains one of the keystones of modern medicine. However, obtaining the legally required consent or authorization for a medical autopsy can be a complex, almost impossible task. Simplification of the legal requirements for consent throughout the United States would be a definite step forward for medicine, and would benefit society generally.

Physician's View Of Whiplash Injuries Of The Neck, Paul A. Nelson

Cleveland State Law Review

Whiplash injuries of the neck as the result of automobile accidents have attracted increased attention in recent years from both the medical and legal professions. The incidence of such injuries has risen steadily, paralleling the increase in the number of automobiles and in the number of accidents on our highways. Unfortunately, effective safety measures or changes in automobile design that might prevent or minimize these injuries have not yet been introduced. Because most whiplash injuries involve compensation and many entail litigation, the correct management of such cases both medically and legally is of considerable economic importance.

Radiographic Aspects Of Whiplash Injury Of The Cervical Spine, Robert R. Wise

Cleveland State Law Review

While the mechanism of sudden forceful flexion or extension of the neck producing injuries to the ligaments bones, and nerves of the neck has long been known, the term "whiplash injury" appears not to have been used in the medical literature until 1945 when it was first used by Davis. In his paper he analyzed 134 injuries of the cervical spine resulting from automobile accidents. Since then the term has been used to designate injuries to the neck or cervical spine which result from sudden forward or backward motion of the head, excluding the obviously catastrophic injuries resulting in complete …

The Law Of Criminal Abortion: An Analysis Of Proposed Reforms

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.