Medical Malpractice and Legal Issues Journal Articles

• Defensive Medicine and Histopathology Diagnosis of Melanoma Fear of malpractice causes 25% of skin pathologists to upgrade a diagnosis of melanocytic skin lesions.
  American Journal of Clinical Pathology, September 2018
• Trends in Physician Reimbursement for Spinal Procedures How have payments for spinal procedures changed in recent years? This article examines the trends.
  Spine, August 2018
• Advice on Avoiding a Malpractice Lawsuit This brief article presents proactive strategies to reduce diagnostic errors and communication lapses that could result in a malpractice suit.
  Applied Radiology, July 2018
• Family Medicine and Obstetrics: Let's Stop Pretending Is delivering babies still one of the core activities of family medicine--and should it be? This editorial comments on the changing role of family physicians in providing maternity care.
  Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, July 2018
• Voluntary Stopping Eating and Drinking When and for whom is voluntary stopping of eating and drinking appropriate? How can associated symptoms be managed? Review counseling as well as ethical and legal considerations in this article.
  Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, April 2018
• Telehealth and Legal Implications for Nurse Practitioners What potential legal issues associated with telehealth should nurse practitioners be aware of?
  Journal for Nurse Practitioners, February 2018
• Diagnostic Errors: Impact of an Educational Intervention Could an educational intervention help increase provider knowledge regarding diagnostic errors and strategies to prevent them?
  Journal of Pediatric Health Care, February 2018
• Nurses in the Know: History and Future of Advance Directives Find out what nurses need to know in respect to the ethical and legal obligations of advance healthcare directives.
  OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, January 2018
• Lawsuits After Primary and Revision Total Knee Arthroplasty A better understanding of the common reasons for malpractice claims after TKA could help reduce the number of malpractice suits.
  Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, December 2017
• Complications: Acknowledging, Managing, Coping With Error To err is human -- but many health care providers struggle with acknowledging medical mistakes and coping with the emotional effects.
  Translational Andrology and Urology, November 2017
• An Analysis of Malpractice Litigation in Plastic Surgery A new study examines the trends in malpractice litigation in plastic surgery and discusses the importance of expert witness testimony.
  ePlasty, Open Access Journal of Plastic Surgery, November 2017
• Situational Awareness Errors and Brain Damage, Death Research finds that situational awareness errors may have contributed to catastrophic outcomes in most recent anesthesia malpractice claims.
  Anesthesiology, October 2017
• Informed Consent: Ethical and Legal Considerations As patient advocates, nurse practitioners can play a key role in the informed consent process. Find out the ethical and legal aspects to be aware of.
  Journal for Nurse Practitioners, March 2017
• Dumped: When Nursing Homes Abandon Patients to the Hospital The illegal practice of 'dumping' is a significant and distressing issue for nursing home residents and their families. What's the solution?
  American Nurse Today, December 2016
• Challenges of Early Feasibility Studies of Medical Devices How can the recently enacted U.S. Early Feasibility Study program for medical device testing be optimized to meet the goal of improving access to early-stage, potentially beneficial devices?
  Journal of the American College of Cardiology, November 2016
• Health Policy, Adolescent Marijuana Use, and Mental Health How might policy changes surrounding marijuana decriminalization and legalization impact the relationship between adolescent marijuana use and mental health?
  Journal of Pediatric Psychology, June 2016
• Liability and Discipline for Nurse Practitioners in the ED What can nurse practitioners do to ensure safe practice and avoid litigation in the midst of chaotic ED environment?
  Journal for Nurse Practitioners, May 2016
• Improving the Patient Handoff Process in the ICU What can be done to improve the hand-off process to reduce the incidence of errors and increase efficiency during care transitions from the ICU?
  Seminars in Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, March 2016
• Medical Malpractice Concerns and Defensive Medicine Delayed diagnosis of breast cancer is a leading cause of malpractice suits filed in the US. Does fear of a lawsuit influence the behavior of pathologists interpreting breast specimens?
  American Journal of Clinical Pathology, January 2016
• Why You Need Your Own Malpractice Insurance This article debunks the myths that surround nursing malpractice insurance and discusses why you should have your own policy.
  American Nurse Today, December 2015