Defensive Medicine

  • Read more: Outpatient Psychiatric Treatment: The Duty to Prevent Patient Suicide

    Outpatient Psychiatric Treatment: The Duty to Prevent Patient Suicide

    By Alex Stein In Chirillo v. Granicz, — So.3d —- (Fla. 2016), 2016 WL 4493536, the Florida Supreme Court formulated an important rule for psychiatric malpractice cases. Back in 2001, the First District Court of Appeal decided that psychiatrists assume no liability for an outpatient’s suicide because it is generally unforeseeable. Tort liability, it held, can…

  • Read more: General Medical Practice: Complaint Handling Issues

    General Medical Practice: Complaint Handling Issues

    By John Tingle There is a new report from Health Service Ombudsman (HSO) on GP (General Medical Practitioner) complaint handling and major failings are revealed. The HSO makes the final decisions on complaints that have not been resolved in England and lies at the apex of the NHS complaints system. The report reveals that some GP…

  • Read more: Proximate Cause in Georgia

    Proximate Cause in Georgia

    By Alex Stein Two days ago, Georgia’s Court of Appeals decided Georgia Clinic v. Stout, — S.E.2d —-, 2013 WL 3497703 (Ga. App. 2013). This tragic case features an elderly patient with an arthritic knee. Her doctors injected that knee with medication drawn from a multi-dose vial. They did so at their clinic under non-sterile conditions that…