ED Legal Letter – February 1, 2012
February 1, 2012
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Texas Emergency Physician Sues Hospital in EMTALA Whistleblower Claim
A U.S. District Court in Texas allows a physician's retaliation claim against the hospital that allegedly terminated his privileges for reporting violations of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA). -
Don't Hide Details About Suits or Settlements
Emergency physicians (EPs) named in lawsuits likely won't be eager to answer detailed questions about their legal problems years down the road, but there are situations in which they'll need to do so. -
Suit-prone EP? Consider Communication Style
The view that every emergency physician (EP) is going to get sued sooner or later is "a bit of an oversimplification," according to Stephen A. Frew, JD, vice president of risk consulting at Johnson Insurance Services and a Rockford, IL-based attorney. -
Don't Handle Nursing Investigation Alone
If an ED nurse is contacted by the state board of nursing about a medication error that harmed a patient, his or her first instinct might be to state, "I told them this would happen because we didn't have enough staff!" -
Learn Info Before Legal Problems Occur
ED nurses shouldn't wait to be the subject of an investigation to become familiar with the hospital's risk management department, says Karen Jarboe, RN, CEN, CCRN, a legal nurse consultant specializing in emergency medicine and a senior clinical nurse with the adult ED at University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore. -
Are You Being Investigated? Mount a Vigorous Defense
If an emergency physician (EP) learns he or she is being investigated by the medical board, this should be taken seriously but not personally, advises Michael Blaivas, MD, professor of emergency medicine in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Northside Hospital Forsyth in Cumming, GA. -
Nursing Delays May Lead to Malpractice Suits
Did an emergency physician write an order for a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, but one cannot be obtained because the machine is being serviced? If so, the chart should reflect that the ordering physician was advised of the delay.