Medical Jurisprudence Commons^™

The Unborn Plaintiff, David A. Gordon

Michigan Law Review

It is almost twenty-five years since Professor Winfield's article "The Unborn Child" was published. The development of this area of the law during the past quarter century is probably summed up in the distinction between that title and the one to this article.

Valid Consent To Medical Treatment: Need The Patient Know?, Charles J. Weyandt

Duquesne Law Review

There are many legal implications, not the least being the issue of informed consent, inherent in the consensual relationship of physician and patient. It is generally agreed that a physician must obtain the patient's consent before proceeding with treatment; otherwise he subjects himself to the risk of liability for malpractice or assault and battery. Consent to treatment need not be express, but can be either implied from the facts arising from the contacts and dealings between physician and patient' or implied by law as in emergency situations. However, another issue that must be resolved is the validity of consent to …

Stress-Caused Heart Attacks, Chester M. Denwicz

Cleveland State Law Review

Current statistics demonstrate that almost any person may be suffering from some degree of hypertension or arteriosclerosis, and that if he enjoys an extended life span, he is likely to sustain a "heart attack" from which his chance of dying is great. Cardiovascular disease has, therefore, become an incident of modern living, and cardiovascular injuries are one of the most controversial areas of liability in the field of workmen's compensation. The conflict concerning heart cases, and especially those related to the "stress incurred," arises primarily from the difficulty of proving causation. The confusion arising from conflicting judicial construction of terms …

Medical And Legal Aspects Of Human Organ Transplantation, Carl E. Wasmuth, Bruce H. Stewart

Cleveland State Law Review

Medical science has now made it possible to transplant kidneys from one individual to another in order to save the lives of patients dying of kidney failure. The use of kidneys from recently deceased patients (so called cadaver donors) is increasing, creating special legal problems in regard to obtaining and using such organs. As techniques of heart, lung, and liver transplantation develop, these legal problems may become even more complex.

What Should Be In A Malpractice Insurance Policy, Sidney Franklin

Cleveland State Law Review

The malpractice insurance policy, also known as Professional Liability Policy, should precisely delineate the coverage, whether partnership or individual, the exact period of the coverage, the exclusions and limitations, the type of practice, the exact premium and the cancellation procedure.

Due Care By Physicians In Use Of New Drugs, Edward T. Haggins

Cleveland State Law Review

How careful must a physician be in using new drugs on his patients? Before discussing these questions, we must look at three problems: (1) What role does the physician play in the new drug picture? (2) What are some of the new drugs and their side effects, and (3) What steps must a new drug go through before it is placed on the market for public consumption?

Book Review, John K. O'Toole

Cleveland State Law Review

Reviewing Alfred R. Lindesmith, The Addict and the Law, Indiana University Press, 1965

Relationships Of The Medical Examiner, Cyril H. Wecht

Cleveland State Law Review

Having set forth these relatively simple definitions, I should like to make a rather bold statement that perhaps will find disagreement among some attorneys and physicians. With all due respect to the many skilled and competent men who are active in various aspects of legal medicine and medical jurisprudence, I would suggest that no one field is so intrinsically and unqualifiedly bound up in the practice of legal medicine as is the work of the medical examiner. Again reverting to definitions, the medical examiner is one who deals on a full-time professional basis with cases that in almost all instances …

Special Law For Medical Specialists, Bernard R. Koehne, James G. Young

Cleveland State Law Review

We do not question the need for, or the benefits of specialization, but rather point to some of the confusion which results, in legal cases involving the medical specialist. The apparent contradiction that appears in proceedings involving specialists is illustrated by two cases where the patient's heart stopped beating while on the operating table.

Hyperbaric Medicine And The Law, Carl E. Wasmuth, John Homi, Donald E. Hale

Cleveland State Law Review

With the construction of such sophisticated facilities as the hyperbaric chamber now contemplated, it might be well to seek out possible legal pitfalls in the application of high pressure oxygen equipment in the treatment of suspected or proved diseases in the human. A comprehensive discussion of the law as it applies to hybaroxia must include design, manufacture, installation, inspection, and use of the facility involved, also, the liability of the manufacturer, of the hospital, and of the physician. Legal literature reveals few cases in which these facets of the law have been discussed with special regard to the hyperbaric facility., …

Hospital Privileges, Bernard D. Herring

Cleveland State Law Review

Almost daily, judicial decisions are handed down, affecting the practice of medicine. As a consequence the rights and responsibilities of physicians are in a state of flux. We must remain vigilant and view these changes critically but objectively, realizing that there will be a constant need for evaluation of these changing legal concepts, especially as they relate to staff privileges, for such privileges are in no small way associated with such highly volatile subjects as procedural fairness, restraint of trade, religious freedom, and racial discrimination.

Positive Handling Of The Negative X-Ray, Lawrence V. Hastings

Cleveland State Law Review

Defense counsel usually pounce on "negative" x-rays, i.e., ones which show little or no change from before to after the accident. They triumphantly parade admissions from medical witnesses that "the x-rays in the case are totally negative," before a jury which is enormously impressed through abysmal ignorance of what x-rays can and do show. Thus, the problem facing counsel for the injured party is how most persuasively to acquaint the jury with means of properly evaluating x-rays in view of their significant attributes and their deficiencies. Plaintiff's counsel must somehow explain the purpose of x-rays, augment their limited information, and/or …

Compensability Of Non-Traumatic Ulcer, Carl L. Stern

Cleveland State Law Review

Titles can be misleading. So, lest the writer be accused of unfair legal merchandising, I must declare at the outset that the non-traumatic ulcer is not compensable, given the present state of the law. I cannot claim that the non-traumatic ulcer has never been held compensable. I can only asseverate that no such holding was uncovered in the course of extended examination of workmen's compensation disputes which have reached courts of review.

Conspiracy Of Silence, Richard M. Markus

Cleveland State Law Review

The requirement that independent expert medical testimony establish the proper standard of care and the defendant's failure to meet that standard imposes an almost insurmountable obstacle in many cases. The so-called conspiracy of silence has been recognized, as a matter of judicial notice, by courts in New Jersey, California, and elsewhere. The use of that phrase to describe the unavailability of medical witnesses has particularly dramatic force which impresses a court and jury. However, no apt phrase could detract from the reality of this practical problem which faces an attorney representing a client seeking damages from a physician for professional …

Is It Error To Discuss Conspiracy Of Silence In A Malpractice Trial, Robert L. Starks

Cleveland State Law Review

There is a need in most malpractice suits to impress the jury with the operation and effect of the conspiracy of silence,and in most jurisdictions, to do so would apparently not, and certainly should not, result in reversible error if done in a reasonable and temperate manner.

A Child Conceived Through Artificial Insemination By A Third-Party Donor Is Illegitimate-Gursky V. Gursky, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Husband and wife, upon discovery of the husband's inability to father children, sought to have the wife artificially inseminated. The husband gave his written consent to the clinical impregnation and agreed to pay for it. As a result of the artificial insemination a child was born. Subsequently, the wife sought an annulment and petitioned for support of this child. Held, annulment granted, and child declared illegitimate. A child conceived through artificial insemination by a third-party donor, even though done with the consent of the mother's husband, is illegitimate. Gursky v. Gursky, 39 Misc. 2d 1083, 242 N.Y.S.2d 406 …

Survey Of Medical Professional Liability In Washington, John Richard Steincipher

Washington Law Review

Today, the number of these claims nears 9,000 a year at a cost of over 45 million dollars, such that one out of every seven physicians in the United States has been sued for professional negligence., This alarming increase in claims, the majority of which are deemed by many to be "without merit," represents one of the most interesting and paradoxical legal developments in recent years, since attorneys specializing in these matters estimate that they reject 80 per cent of the claims brought to them, and even with this, the defending physicians are victorious in 70 per cent of the …

The Law Of Medical Malpractice In Virginia, Robert E. Shepherd, Jr.

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Ril Vs. The Expert Witness In Malpractice Cases

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Proposal For An "Ideal" Course In Law And Medicine, Allan H. Mccoid

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

Practicable Medico-Legal Instruction In The "Smaller School", Kenneth Redden

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

An "Ideal" Course In Law And Medicine: A Counter Proposal, Justin C. Smith

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

Insurance -- 1963 Tennessee Survey, Robert N. Covington

Vanderbilt Law Review

1. Definition of "Temporary Substitute Automobile." Defendant issued a public liability policy covering insured's use of a described vehicle (a 1955 Ford) as a taxicab. The policy contained a standard temporary substitute automobile clause, covering a non-owned auto-mobile "while temporarily used as a substitute for the described automobile when withdrawn from normal use because of its break-down, repair, servicing, loss or destruction."

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2. Application of Automobile Policy Liability Limits. A husband and wife (hereinafter H and W) were injured in an accident caused by the insured. In their actions against the insured W was awarded 4,500 dollars and H …

Trusts-Termination-Proof Of Impossibilty Of Issue, Charles F. Niemeth

Michigan Law Review

The surviving trustee of a testamentary trust petitioned the probate court for authority to terminate and distribute the trust in accordance with a compromise agreement between all interested persons apart from the possible issue of one beneficiary. Undisputed medical testimony was received that neither the beneficiary nor his wife were capable of procreation. On a question of law certified to the New Hampshire Supreme Court, held, remanded with instructions to terminate and distribute the corpus of the trust. Termination of a trust in prejudice of the interests of possible future issue is permissible when the possibility of such issue …

Radiation Injuries: Statute Of Limitations Inadequacies In Tort Cases, Samuel D. Estep, Thomas W. Van Dyke

Michigan Law Review

Some injuries from overexposure to radiation may manifest themselves within existing statutory limitations periods, at least under some liberal ( or loose) judicial interpretations. Many injurious manifestations, however, will not arise for a great many years after exposure; it is the thesis of this article that some new legislative solutions must be adopted. Limiting the right to sue to the existing time periods as construed by many courts will be manifestly unfair to plaintiffs. A blanket, unconditional extension of the time period to as much as thirty years for all cases regardless of the local rule as to when the …

Malpractice Immunity For The Physician: Unconstitutional, Unfair And Unnecessary Legislation, Edward G. O'Connor

Duquesne Law Review

In August of 1963, the Pennsylvania General Assembly enacted a law which purports to abolish a right of action for the negligence of a physician. The act exempts physicians from civil liability for malpractice arising from negligent treatment or care rendered at the scene of an accident or emergency. Gross negligence and acts or omissions intentionally designed to harm are specifically excluded from this otherwise blanket immunity. There is no liability for negligence. Prior to this enactment, the physician would have been treated the same as any other "Good Samaritan." This law purports to accord him an immunity which this …

Pennsylvania's Good Samaritan Statute - An Answer To The Medical Profession's Dilemma, Joseph F. Busacca

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

Diseases Of Obscure Etiology: Legal Aspects, Paul D. Rheingold

Cleveland State Law Review

The purpose of this note is to gather and analyze legal cases which have involved diseases characterized by the courts or medical witnesses as being of obscure etiology or in which the role of trauma is uncertain. Basic to this discussion is an understanding of the concepts of causation, precipitation and aggravation as they are used both legally and medically.

Malpractice In Dental Anesthesiology, Allen L. Perry

Cleveland State Law Review

Cases invovlving dental anesthesia reveal that breaches of the duty to use proper skill and care have occurred in selection of the type of anesthetic, method of administration, failure to examine the patient, use of unsterile instruments, failure to use safety devices, and failure to properly care for patients under the influence of anesthesia. Persons practicing dental anesthesiology, like those pracing medicine and surgery, must be duly able and careful. This rule is elementary and is founded on considerations of public policy. Whenever the behavior of a dentist or dental anesthesiologist has been of a nature such that a dereliction …

Outpatient Injuries Of The Hand, Frank W. Masters, David W. Robinson

Cleveland State Law Review

All hand injuries, regardless of superficiality, may result in crippling loss of function if treatment is inadequate or mishandled. The essential elements of diagnosis, examination, approach to therapy and after-care are constant. The major difference between an injury requiring hospitalization and one amenable to outpatient management is the extent of the trauma. This article reviews the major outpatient injuries with respect to method of management, choice of definitive procedure, and preservation of function.