Vaccine refusal: Creating bad policy, doctor’s dilemma

Massachusetts has long been recognized for its national leadership on childhood immunization. This achievement is the result of state law requiring children to be immunized for many communicable diseases and, according to the Department of Public Health, an “effective pediatric primary care system that immunizes virtually all children in their medical home and the state’s provision of every recommended vaccine, for all young children, at no charge.” Read more

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Q: A growing number of parents are declining vaccinations for their children, and some physicians are refusing to treat those patients. What legal or ethical issues are raised when a physician decides not to treat a patient due to clinical noncompliance? Read more

Mandates for physician education raise concerns

New discoveries, technologies and treatments continue to change the face of medicine, how physicians administer care and how patients receive care, and physicians of all specialties continually find themselves racing to keep up with the latest developments to provide optimal care.

A critical part of the physician’s effort to keep current is continuing medical education, required of every physician practicing in Massachusetts by the Board of Registration of Medicine. Read more

Good Medicine

Q: Legislative actions have mandated continuing education for physicians in opioid prescriptions and competency in electronic medical records. Should the legislature mandate education or competence as a condition of licensure? Read more

Good Medicine

Q: What can health officials and medical and legal professionals do to obtain better enforcement of mental health parity laws to improve patient care in Massachusetts? Read more

Mental health parity: Cast in law, not in practice

Massachusetts passed a mental health parity law in 2000, one of the first states to do so. This legislation requires any health plan to treat certain categories of psychiatric diagnoses in the same manner as they treat medical diagnoses, with no greater barriers to receive care. Read more

One physician’s prescription for better health care

Health care costs are rising at an unsustainable rate, yet a significant percentage of the U.S. population does not have any insurance coverage at all. Even those with access do not always get good care. Read more

Medical liability: It’s time for a new approach

Physicians’ criticisms about our medical liability system have long been loud and clear: it leads to frivolous lawsuits, undermines patient safety, reduces access to care, creates a “culture of silence” between physicians and patients, burdens doctors with high premiums and encourages defensive medicine, driving health costs higher. In short, doctors say, the system is dysfunctional and ill serves patients, physicians and our health care delivery system. Read more

Good Medicine

Q: A new model to transform medical liability, based on the concepts of disclosure, apology and offer, is being proposed to improve patient and provider trust, reduce fear and enhance patient safety. It works in Michigan. Can it work in Massachusetts? Read more

HIV testing best served by CDC approach, not state law

In 1986, Massachusetts lawmakers enacted an HIV consent law (Chapter 111, Section 70F), stipulating that patients could not be tested for HIV without written, informed consent and that patients must give written, informed consent for each release of test results. Read more

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