Ghostwriting dispute spooks researchers
June 13, 2008
Recent allegations that Merck used ghostwriters to write articles about Vioxx have left some experts saying that the practice could compromise the integrity of the scientific research system.
Tripling concerns for health care employers
June 13, 2008
By John J. Slater III and Courtney A. Clark
Physicians and health care administrators whose attention has undoubtedly been focused on the financial implications of the Commonwealth’s health insurance initiative must put a new legislative mandate on their radar screen.
The state Legislature passed a bill that will make violations of the Massachusetts Wage Act subject to mandatory triple damages, even for inadvertent violations.
Medication errors lead to lawsuits across the country
May 30, 2008
Celebrity cases such as Heath Ledger’s recent death from mixing prescription drugs and Dennis Quaid’s newborn twins receiving an adult dose of a blood thinner only scratch the surface of a growing number of lawsuits over medication errors.
‘Minute clinics’ raise round-the-clock risks
March 17, 2008
“Minute clinics” will soon be opening in CVS stores across Massachusetts, with nurses dispensing medical advice and prescriptions in what the pharmacy chain claims to be a quick and inexpensive way for patients to get care for minor medical problems.But in approving these clinics, has the state Public Health Council made a risky move?
- Related story: What providers can do to protect themselves from liability
Saying sorry
March 17, 2008
In the book “Sorry Works!: Disclosure, Apology, and Relationships Prevent Medical Malpractice Claims,” three experts examine the concept of apology and address how it can be applied by physicians and hospitals – and understood by insurers, lawyers and patients. Read more
Doctors worry about new liability for prescriptions
March 17, 2008
Physicians are concerned about the recent Massachusetts court decision holding they may be liable if a patient who is taking medication they prescribed injures a third party.
Doctors shouldn’t change their prescription practices as a result, insurers and attorneys advise, but they should be very careful to document their warnings – and in some cases they should follow up more carefully to see if a patient is becoming impaired by a medication’s side effects.
Rooting out physician fraud: The government’s plan
December 10, 2007
By Michelle Peirce and Meghan Cosgrove
Physicians and other health care professionals should take heed: the Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the Department of Health and Human Services, which is responsible for rooting out health care fraud, recently announced its areas of focus for 2008.
The OIG’s “Work Plan” for fiscal year 2008 was released on Oct. 1, 2007.
Medical I.D. theft is a prescription for legal headache
October 15, 2007
A rising trend of medical identity theft – where a patient’s personal information is used fraudulently to obtain or to bill for medical services – is raising tricky legal issues for medical providers.When misinformation finds its way into the medical file of the identity theft victim, doctors and hospitals must juggle the competing interests of the patient’s demands, federal privacy requirements and their own liability.
The last straw: When to terminate a patient
June 15, 2006
Many physicians would consider termination of a noncompliant patient to be the nuclear option.But Cambridge attorney Martin Foster, who represents physicians, says they need to be willing to pull out of the physician-patient relationship when there are no clinical barriers to compliance, and the patient knows the risks of noncompliance, yet refuses to follow the suggested course of treatment.
Risk experts offer tips for managing difficult patients
June 15, 2006
Few things are more aggravating for physicians than patients who refuse to follow their medical advice.
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