ED Legal Letter – December 1, 2019
December 1, 2019
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Vascular Events, Infections Top Misdiagnosed Conditions in ED Malpractice Claims
The lead author of a recent study expounds on high-severity misdiagnosis cases and what those mean for EDs in terms of patient safety and malpractice risk.
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Hospital Sole Defendant in Some ED Malpractice Claims
Hospitals can argue that they are not liable for the emergency physician's negligence because he or she is not an employee. Yet, it is increasingly difficult for hospitals to avoid this “vicarious liability.”
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Legal Exposure for ED When Overdose Patients Refuse Care
One concern is that whatever the patient overdosed on, which often is unknown, will outlast the duration of the reversal agent.
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Abnormal Vital Signs Often Found in ED Chart During Malpractice Litigation
If abnormal vital signs are documented clearly, but are unexplained and seemingly unnoticed, it complicates malpractice defense.
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Higher Emotional Intelligence Linked to Less Malpractice Litigation
Researchers have found an indirect negative correlation between a physician’s emotional intelligence and litigation risk. One possible explanation: Better communication skills mean happier patients.
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EMTALA, Malpractice Implications for Patients Transferred 100 Miles Away
There are some situations in which hospitals violate EMTALA, or the standard of care, by making unreasonable transfer arrangements that result in untoward outcomes. Potential liability exposure for the transferring hospital makes it important to document that the closer hospitals rejected the transfer and why the benefits of transferring the patient to a particular hospital outweigh the risks.