A lawsuit from advice dispensed over e-mail:
In one case, an interventional radiologist gave advice to a 65-year-old woman who had selected the “contact us” option on the practice’s website. The woman had written that her doctor recommended a vertebroplasty because radiographs of the lumbar spine showed diffuse osteoporosis and a collapsed third lumbar vertebra. The radiologist responded that he, too, recommended the procedure. An orthopedic surgeon performed the vertebroplasty, complications ensued, and the patient became paraplegic. The resulting lawsuit alleged that the radiologist had “negligently advised” the woman to undergo vertebroplasty “without conducting physical examination and medical testing that would have disclosed the presence of metastatic cancer.”
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{ 5 comments }
Wouldn’t the patient have been aware at the time of the ‘opinion’ that she had not been examined, not had any other testing by the radiologist.
With proper coaching she can be taught to state with a straight face that for the full value and time spent with her ‘consultant’ that she failed to get what she paid for.
So much for the computer age and medicine. I will NEVER answer a patient e-mail, thanks to the out of control lawyer industry.
the same can be said for giving telephone advice, even if it IS YOUR PATIENT – that’s why there’s so much “go to the ER – it could be serious” type of responses to after-hours calls.
Email leaves a permament record of the entire exchange, unlike telephone which offers the advantage and disadvantage of leaving to you (and the notemaking patient) to decide what to record. That part cuts both ways. A major problem with email is that you actually have an illusion of more communication than really occured in that you lose the nuance of voice with emphasis and tone. I don’t use email now and have considered it, but only for apt scheduling and administrative matters. But how would I enforce that?
If I gave general information in emails as in “Usually in situations like this . . . ” with a disclaimer. I would, inevitably get casual when tired or rushed and leave the disclaimer out sometimes.
It could be useful but really there is not safe way to do it. It invites flip answers without full information.
My practice has a Web site, but I don’t put a “Contact Us” link on it. That’s why. I don’t appreciate the liability risk of E-mail.
I have links to various Medical sites, AAFP, Mayo, etc. They have fillable forms for patient demographics for a new patient to register with the practice. New patients find that very useful, by the way. Try it if you have a practice Web site.
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