A version of this op-ed was published on October 26th, 2009 in the USA Today.
President Obama has acknowledged that changes in the medical malpractice system must be considered with other health reforms, and recently ordered that pilot projects to improve the way we compensate injured patients be implemented.
Reforming medical liability has historically been a source of major contention. Physicians argue that the system is expensive, promotes multi-million dollar awards disproportionate to the injuries suffered, and encourages “defensive medicine” – the practice of ordering tests to avoid being sued.
Lawyers, on the other hand, say that suing doctors provides the only way for patients harmed by medical errors to seek financial redress, and dismiss the notion that malpractice costs and defensive medicine contribute substantially to health care spending.
But what’s overlooked in this argument is that the current liability system often does injured patients a disservice. And that’s the most important reason why medical malpractice reform is needed.
As the House of Representatives prepares to vote on its historic health care reform bill on Saturday, family physicians are heartened to see the support it gives to the emerging new model of care, the patient centered medical home.
The House bill is good news on many fronts. It would provide health insurance coverage for some 96 percent of Americans and would reduce the federal deficit by $30 billion. The Congressional Budget Office estimates this bill would lower health care costs in part by improving health care delivery and relying on the medical home model with its greater focus on primary and preventive care.
The best method for taking insulin among individuals with type 2 diabetes has been identified in research published in the latest issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
by Michael Smith, MedPage Today North American Correspondent
Vaccination does not appear to cause autism or other health problems in children with inborn errors of metabolism, a researcher said here.
In a retrospective analysis, children with such conditions were not more likely than normal children to visit emergency rooms or need hospital care after vaccination, according to Nicola Klein, MD, PhD, of the Kaiser Permanente Vaccine Study Center in Oakland, Calif.
While the data are preliminary and the sample size is small, Klein said at the annual meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, there doesn’t seem to be an association between vaccination and adverse events in children with inborn errors of metabolism.
There are many tragic questions emerging from today’s massacre at Fort Hood. The one I’m interested in is why a reportedly mild-mannered psychiatrist, a specialist in disaster and preventive psychiatry no less, would make the decision to open fire on his fellow soldiers.
One reason may be so-called compassion fatigue, also known as vicarious traumatization [...]
by Toni Brayer, MD
Only in the United States could a virus like H1N1 bring out the worst in medical politics and greed. We are facing a pandemic that requires coordination, communication and the best of medical practice. But what are we getting? Strikes, lawsuits and anything but putting patients first.
The California Nurse Association (CNA), is [...]
Originally published in HCPLive.com
by Enoch Choi, MD
Patients have embraced social networking tools that allow them to share information, offer support, and compare healthcare experiences. Physicians should also use these tools to connect with their patients and local communities and provide general medical information.
Healthcare social networking has made impressive inroads into the mainstream, as like-minded [...]
Originally published in MedPage Today
by Charles Bankhead, MedPage Today Staff Writer
Clostridium difficile infection has spread from the hospital to the community but has proved manageable thus far.
From 1991 to 2005, the incidence of community-acquired C. difficile in Olmsted County, Minn., quadrupled but still remained less common than the hospital-acquired gastrointestinal infection, Sahil Khanna, MD, [...]
If getting sick weren’t so miserable, I’m sure more can appreciate the beauty of this video.
MedGadget points us to this NPR piece featuring Xvivo, a company that produces impressive medical and scientific animations. This one shows us how viruses infect cells and reproduce themselves.
Enjoy.
by Danielle Ofri, MD, PhD
If asked what a doctor does, most people would probably come up with the standard description of diagnosing and treating disease, usually while wearing an ill-fitting white coat. Before I entered practice, even during my medical training that probably would have been my answer too.
But my years in the trenches of [...]
by Bruce Goldman
The U.S. health care system, although it’s the costliest in the world, doesn’t even deliver the goods when it comes to delivering health. That’s the conventional wisdom. But is it true?
At least a few well-researched studies by credentialed and respected experts suggest we might want to pause to consider whether, in the mad [...]
Originally published in MedPage Today
by Michael Smith, MedPage Today North American Correspondent
Children appear to shed particles of the H1N1 pandemic flu virus longer than adults do, which may have implications for how long they stay out of school, a researcher said here.
The finding comes from an analysis of an outbreak in a Pennsylvania elementary [...]
Hidden in the Senate version of health reform is wording that would require insurers to consider covering Christian Science prayer treatments.
Although not expected to be a big expense, this is causing some consternation, as it blurs the line between church and state. And this would likely invite other religious groups to organize, so they [...]
by Brian E. Moore, MD
Two neuropathologists are prominently spotlighted in an article by Malcolm Gladwell in the October 19 issue of The New Yorker. The article explores a provocative question raised by autopsy results on football players: namely, should football be illegal?
Featured are Dr. Ann McKee, neuropathologist at the Veterans Hospital in Bedford, Massachusetts and [...]
Originally published in Insidermedicine
Second-generation antipsychotic drugs can produce unwanted weight gain and other metabolic effects among children and youths after only a few weeks, according to research published in the latest issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Originally published in MedPage Today
by Crystal Phend, MedPage Today Senior Staff Writer
Failure to account for background rates when considering adverse events from pandemic H1N1 flu vaccination could spark public panic, researchers cautioned.
Coincidental cases of dramatic events including sudden death, Guillain-Barré syndrome, and spontaneous abortion can be expected to boost the true incidence of adverse [...]
