Articles Tagged With: emergency
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These Suits Against EPs Became Indefensible: Medical Records Were Altered
In a case related to the alleged delay in providing care to a patient, an emergency physician (EP) was accused of altering the time that he ordered certain treatments for the patient. -
Social Media Can Lead to Suits Against EP for Malpractice, Civil Defamation
In 2013, an emergency department (ED) director was terminated after commenting on a patients photo, which had been posted on Facebook by an ED nurse.1 In a similar case the same year, an emergency physician (EP) was sued after posting a photo of an intoxicated patient that included comments. -
Classic Heavy Hitters: Tricky Diagnoses That Recurrently Lead to Large Malpractice Payouts
Certain diagnoses have recurrently and consistently been the bane of emergency department (ED) physicians, with regard to malpractice payouts year after year. They continue to be missed, and lead to some of the larger awards. Below we present several recent typical cases to raise awareness and avoid liability. -
EMTALA Lawsuits Involving Psychiatric Patients Held in ED Rarely Successful
The risk of an Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act (EMTALA) lawsuit involving a patient with psychiatric illness is low, according to a recent study.1 If emergency physicians (EPs) perform appropriate medical screening examinations, the lawsuit is rarely successful. -
The Photosensitive Patient
A 65-year-old female presents to the emergency department with a chief complaint of a severe rash. The rash has been present for two weeks on her arms, neck, and scalp. It began while she was sitting on her porch one afternoon. She denies any associated fevers, chills, headache, or muscle ache. She denies any exposure to pets, new soaps, detergents, or lotions, and she denies recent travel.
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Pediatric Myocarditis
Myocarditis can at times be asymptomatic and has a varied presentation; consequentially, it often goes undiagnosed and its true incidence is unknown -
Emergency Ultrasound Part I: Pelvic Ultrasound and the First Trimester Patient
In this article and the succeeding two parts in this series, three distinctive applications of ultrasound in the ED will be discussed. The ability to perform a proficient and diagnostically effective ultrasound examination requires a judicious understanding of the underlying principles. -
Hyperbaric Oxygen for Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
The value of hyperbaric oxygen therapy for the treatment of CO-poisoned patients, and its ability to prevent long-term cognitive sequelae, has been debated for years among toxicology and hyperbaric experts. This study from the University of Utah addressed this difficult issue. -
Oral Vitamin K Lowers INR Faster than Subcutaneous Vitamin K
Crowther and associates tested the hypothesis that oral vitamin K would reduce high international normalized ratio values faster than subcutaneous vitamin K. -
Special Feature: Metabolic Alkalosis
A systematic approach with an understanding of the pathophysiology can help the clinician correctly diagnose and treat metabolic alkalosis, a condition that carries a high morbidity and mortality rate.