Answering when the government comes calling

As most health care professionals are now aware, government investigation and prosecution of fraud among participants in federal health care programs has risen substantially in recent years and shows no signs of abating. Read more

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

Patient dies without required air machine

A 60-year-old father of three adult daughters had a history of sleep apnea, which he treated with a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machine. Read more

Patient’s brain bleed mistaken for migraine

In the early morning hours of May 28, 2005, a 29-year-old woman presented to a community hospital emergency department by ambulance with a headache, vomiting and diminished consciousness. Read more

Doctor’s testimony thwarts two appeals by insurance co.

A union ironworker injured his back after lifting heavy railings at Fenway Park. He was diagnosed with disc herniations at the L3-L4 levels and eventually underwent microdiscectomies performed by a Norwood doctor in May 2009. Read more

Report: Retail-clinic use has skyrocketed

A new study by Rand Corp. has revealed that the use of retail medical clinics is rising swiftly, and users tend to be younger, wealthier and in better health overall than their peers who went to a physician’s office or an emergency room for care, according to Modern Physician. Read more

Study: Docs often fail to report child abuse

Pediatricians and other primary care providers are good at identifying physical injuries in children that might be the result of abuse, but they are not as good at judging when to report those cases to authorities, according to a study led by a doctor at Boston Medical Center. Read more

AMA launches patient Rx app

The American Medical Association has released “My Medications,” a new smartphone application created to help patients store and share their health information, according to Modern Physician. Read more

Health care case tops Supreme Court term

This term, the U.S. Supreme Court will have its say about the constitutionality of the federal health care law’s individual mandate – and the entire law itself. Read more

Succeeding in breaking down barriers

Six pairs of skeptical eyes shifted between the copy of Massachusetts Medical Law Report in front of them and the editor across the boardroom table at the Massachusetts Medical Society in 2005.

It was the first issue of the newspaper, and this was an opportunity to show the Society’s executive staff members and officers what we were doing and pick their brains for ideas of what they would want to read. Read more

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