New HIPAA Privacy Rules Take Effect April 14
October 07, 2003
Congress recently amended the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) to include what has become known as the 'Privacy Rule,' a statutory provision addressing the privacy of health information. The Rule covers health care providers, health care clearinghouses and health plans, including employer-sponsored group health plans.
Collaborative Family Law Practice and You
October 07, 2003
Have you considered making your matrimonial practice collaborative? That's the system currently gaining favor around the country whereby divorcing couples seek to resolve issues with the aid of collaborative attorneys who take part in discussions involving both divorcing parties and their attorneys.
ADR and Other Options: Advising Your Clients
October 07, 2003
It never fails to amaze me. Educated professionals, usually of the legal variety, begin discussing the state of our civil justice system. A discussion of the adversarial system ensues. Debating what is wrong with it, or perhaps, (thanks to those 'half-full glass' types) ways in which it could be improved, is usually an animated segment of the discussion.
How to Challenge the Forensic Psychiatrist's Report
October 07, 2003
Envision the following scenario, which is not necessarily commonplace, but not unheard of, either: Your client, the mother of a 9-year-old girl and two boys, aged 2 and 5, has been married for 14 years, most of them unhappy. Your client has been struggling with, and is being treated for, a series of psychological problems, including bipolar disorder, suicidal ideation and post-partum trauma disorder. The client has been a stay-at-home mother, attending to the demands of three children with busy schedules. Her marital problems have increased dramatically since the birth of the youngest child, to the point where she now believes the domestic discord is detrimental to her own as well as to her children's emotional well-being.
Cerebral Palsy: New Obstacle to Proving Causation
October 07, 2003
A plaintiff who alleges that lack of oxygen during a botched delivery caused a child's cerebral palsy might have a new obstacle to proving causation, if juries give credence to a recent report commissioned by two major medical organizations.
Verdicts
October 07, 2003
FloridaWin for Woman Claiming Abuse During Pap SmearA woman who claimed that a doctor molested her during a pap smear was awarded $280,000 by a Florida jury on February 27, 2003. Kathy Murphy, a 49-year-old painter and massage therapist, claimed that Dr. William Charles Leach, of Naples, FL, asked her to help perform a 'new pap smear technique' where she was required to massage her vagina. She claimed that the doctor masturbated near her. Leach did not attend the trial, and the plaintiff obtained a default judgment.
If Your Client Uses a Physician Assistant, Make Sure There's a Written Protocol
October 07, 2003
Doctors are increasingly making use of physician assistants (PAs) in their practices. In order to avoid liability, it has become imperative that physicians who do use these assistants establish and follow consistent protocols. This is important not only for the efficient and orderly functioning of the office, but to ensure that government regulations are met and that the patients fully understand the role of these professionals. Patients must be told that PAs are available in the practice, but that they as patients have the right to choose examination and treatment by either the assistant or the physician. Only following these protocols can the medical practitioner ensure the orderly function of the office, the satisfaction of the patients, and some degree of protection from lawsuits engendered by a less-than-perfect medical outcome.
Med Mal Verdict 'Shocked the Conscience'
October 07, 2003
In a Philadelphia case in which a defendant doctor testified at trial that he believed there was a 20% chance that his patient's cancer had returned but that he did not do anything to confirm his suspicion until approximately 14 months later, the Superior Court ruled that a jury verdict for the defendant so 'shocked the conscience' as to merit a new trial.
