March 24th 2023
Study examines effects of law that makes records available to patients.
February 27th 2023
Motivational interviewing: Benefits and advice for busy physicians
July 25th 2019To improve health outcomes, today’s physicians must be able to communicate effectively with their patients. One approach many experts encourage physicians to use is motivational interviewing (MI), a series of techniques to get at the root of patient concerns and help encourage them to make healthy behavior changes.
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Should this ectopic pregnancy have been diagnosed earlier?
February 1st 2017The plaintiff asserted that during the diagnostic laparoscopy, Dr A and Dr B should have detected the ectopic pregnancy in the right fallopian tube. Her attorneys claimed that based upon the plaintiff’s abdominal pain, vaginal bleeding, and β- hCG levels, and absent evidence of intrauterine pregnancy on ultrasound, the defendants should have presumed ectopic pregnancy and adequately evaluated the fallopian tube before discharging the patient, thus avoiding rupture.
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The ‘house’ of ethics: A teaching tool
January 1st 201767% of residency directors reported that a lack of faculty expertise in medical ethics was a significant barrier to their attempts to provide a more comprehensive educational process. I have a proposal for a solution to these problems: Teaching about the “house of ethics” in ob/gyn, as we do at Vanderbilt University.
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Claim of unnecessary hysterectomy
September 28th 2015An Alabama woman went for an annual pelvic exam and underwent a Pap test. It showed a high-grade squamous intraepithelial neoplasia and the gynecologist could not rule out cancer. The patient then had a colposcopy, which revealed high-grade dysplasia with negative endocervical currettings. Each was identified as a form of pre-cancer.
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High/low agreement in shoulder dystocia case complicated by patient history
April 6th 2015A high/low agreement usually is done to prevent a “runaway” jury from coming back with an unreasonably high award, but ensures the plaintiff of something because they are agreeing to a lower amount than what the jury might have awarded.
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