“Aquagenic Urticaria” – Teenage Girl is Allergic to Water

Teenager Ashleigh Morris can’t go swimming, soak in a hot bath or enjoy a shower after a stressful day’s work – she’s allergic to water. Even sweating brings the 19-year-old out in a painful rash. Ashleigh, from Melbourne, Australia, is allergic to water of any temperature, a condition she’s lived with since she was 14. She suffers from an extremely rare skin disorder called Aquagenic Urticaria – so unusual that only a handful of cases are documented worldwide. When Ashleigh gets wet her body explodes in sore, itchy red lumps that take about two hours to ease. She has to wash. But showering is a painful experience and she can only do it for a minute at a time. These brief showers are the only contact Ashleigh has with water. She developed the condition five years ago after an acute case of tonsillitis. She was prescribed a heavy dose of penicillin that rid her of the tonsillitis but left her with another problem. “I suddenly started getting a rash after I showered or swam,” says Ashleigh who used to swim regularly and spend a lot of time at the beach. “I tried to ignore it but it got progressively worse so I went to see a dermatologist.” Ashleigh’s dermatologist, Professor Rodney Sinclair, told her the penicillin had altered the histamine levels in her body and caused the Aquagenic Urticaria to occur.

Please click on the link below to read the Daily Mail article:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=520329&in_page_id=1811

For more information on defending medical malpractice, nursing home and general liability matters in Florida contact Howard Citron at Citron & Associates, P.A. – www.citronlegal.com.

Public Health Risk Seen as Parents Reject Vaccines for Children

In a highly unusual outbreak of measles here last month, 12 children fell ill; nine of them had not been inoculated against the virus because their parents objected, and the other three were too young to receive vaccines. The parents who objected to their children being inoculated are among a small but growing number of vaccine skeptics in California and other states who take advantage of exemptions to laws requiring vaccinations for school-age children. The exemptions have been growing since the early 1990s at a rate that many epidemiologists, public health officials and physicians find disturbing. Children who are not vaccinated are unnecessarily susceptible to serious illnesses, they say, but also present a danger to children who have had their shots — the measles vaccine, for instance, is only 95 percent effective — and to those children too young to receive certain vaccines. Measles, almost wholly eradicated in the United States through vaccines, can cause pneumonia and brain swelling, which in rare cases can lead to death. The measles outbreak here alarmed public health officials, sickened babies and sent one child to the hospital. Every state allows medical exemptions, and most permit exemptions based on religious practices. But an increasing number of the vaccine skeptics belong to a different group — those who object to the inoculations because of their personal beliefs, often related to an unproven notion that vaccines are linked to autism and other disorders. Twenty states, including California, Ohio and Texas, allow some kind of personal exemption, according to a tally by the Johns Hopkins University.

Please click on the link below to read the New York Times article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/21/us/21vaccine.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&ref=health&adxnnlx=1206108704-VZ2uEy9iN4QweCYjBbW/hw

For more information on defending medical malpractice, nursing home and general liability matters in Florida contact Howard Citron at Citron & Associates, P.A. – www.citronlegal.com.

New Web Site on Imaging Safety Draws Criticism

A health plan-owned company says it wants to promote discussion about the risks of radiation exposure from some imaging tests. To that end, it is bringing a cyber woman named Aimee into conversations with patients and physicians. But some aren’t sure Aimee’s intentions are completely motivated by safety and want her to butt out. Aimee is a model patient on a new Web site hosted by American Imaging Management, a subsidiary of WellPoint. Health plans rely on AIM or similar companies to control their imaging costs. AIM says its new site is motivated by recent studies assessing the risks of radiation exposure. The patient chooses a procedure. A part of Aimee’s body lights up, depending on what part is being scanned. Then the site tells the user how much radiation exposure a patient would get from various computed tomography scans, positron emission tomography scans and nuclear medicine tests. It compares the relative radiation exposure to the estimated annual radiation from sunlight and from a chest x-ray and lists alternative diagnostic tests. “We’re here to provide information patients can use in their conversations with their physicians,” said Paul Danao, AIM’s vice president for business development. Some doctors said they suspect AIM could be trying to create doubt in patients’ minds about the safety of tests to save money for its health plan clients, and they aren’t comfortable with what they see as interference with the doctor-patient relationship.

Please click on the link below to read the American Medical News article:

http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2008/03/24/bil20324.htm

For more information on defending medical malpractice, nursing home and general liability matters in Florida contact Howard Citron at Citron & Associates, P.A. – www.citronlegal.com.

Southwest Florida: Gender-Specific Knee Replacements Offered

Judith Cooper didn’t fret about getting back to exercising after knee replacement surgery. Neither did the North Naples resident hold out long before getting back to her home-cleaning business two days a week, a job that involves a lot of bending. “I went back to riding a bike in eight weeks,” said Cooper, who turns 67 next week. “I can bend my knee back like you wouldn’t believe.” Cooper’s positive outcome after having her right knee replaced in October 2006 dovetails with expectations when a gender-specific prosthesis is used, an implant design that mimics female anatomy of the knee. “I think this is a product that markedly improves patient outcome,” said Dr. Jon Dounchis, the orthopedic surgeon in Naples who performed Cooper’s surgery at NCH Naples Downtown Hospital. Dounchis and eight other orthopedic surgeons in Collier County are using the gender-specific knee. The first of its kind, it has been on the market 18 months. The manufacturer is Zimmer, a Warsaw, Ind.-based manufacturer of orthopedic implants. The goal is improved flexibility after surgery, something that wasn’t being achieved so well for women using one of the traditional implants.

Please click on the link below to read the Naples Daily News article:

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2008/mar/15/gender-specific-knee-replacement-now-offered-naple/

For more information on defending medical malpractice, nursing home and general liability matters in Florida contact Howard Citron at Citron & Associates, P.A. – www.citronlegal.com.

Report: How Can Wrong-Site Surgeries Be Eliminated?

Minnesota hospitals have struggled for years to eliminate so-called wrong-site surgeries such as the one that occurred last week when a Methodist Hospital surgeon accidentally removed a healthy kidney from a patient with kidney cancer. But just as soon as they think they’ve made progress, they find another gap in their safety protocols. In this case, the mistake happened because weeks before the patient was rolled into the surgery suite, the surgeon marked the wrong kidney as cancerous in the medical record. Patient safety experts say they are just beginning to realize that correcting such upstream mistakes in medical records will be critically important in eliminating wrong-site surgeries. But those fixes will be far more complicated and difficult to implement than safety protocols that primarily focus on operating rooms just before surgery. In the wake of the tragic error that resulted in leaving a cancerous kidney in the patient, Methodist has again refined its procedures, officials said. To prevent that kind of thing from happening again, as of Monday surgical teams at Methodist are required to review all medical images, such as X-rays, right before surgery begins. It will be yet another item on their last-minute safety checklist.

Excerpt taken from a Star Tribune article.

For more information on defending medical malpractice, nursing home and general liability matters in Florida contact Howard Citron at Citron & Associates, P.A. – www.citronlegal.com.

South Florida’s, Bioheart, Patents Method to Repair Heart Tissue

Bioheart said it has received a patent for a method to repair damaged heart tissue by a combination of cell transplantation and electrostimulation. The Sunrise-based biotech, which went public in February, said one potential application for the patented technology is to adapt a bi-ventricular pacemaker with a separate lead that could apply the electrostimulation to the cell-transplanted regions. The technology may also be to combined with Bioheart’s MyoCell therapy for the recovery of heart muscle in cardiac patients afflicted with damaged heart tissue.  

Please click on the link below to read the South Florida Business Journal article:

http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2008/03/17/daily13.html?f=et81&ana=e_du

For more information on defending medical malpractice, nursing home and general liability matters in Florida contact Howard Citron at Citron & Associates, P.A. – www.citronlegal.com.

In-Room Hospital Web Services: Even if You’re Ill, You Can Still Stay Connected

Hospitals have begun installing Internet systems, complete with dedicated shopping channels, to help patients pick up goods they will need for their recuperation. The idea is that patients and visitors who are busy shopping and browsing the Web will be happier, less prone to bother nurses, and more likely to arm themselves with health care information that can help smooth the patient’s recovery. “Just like they would with a hotel, patients expect a degree of connectedness when they’re in the hospital,” said Timothy Zoph, chief information officer at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. “And for ones that do it well, like we think we do, it’s a differentiating experience.” Northwestern Memorial last year spent an undisclosed amount to install 42-inch flat-screen televisions and Internet connections near each of the 200 beds in its new women’s hospital building. The screens are big enough, and close enough, for patients to read the text on Web pages, which patients click through with a remote-control keyboard and mouse. They may also zoom in on certain parts of a page. When users switch on the screen, they see a welcome page with four links — for TV, the Web, medical education and hospital information. In the last category, patients can adjust the temperature in their rooms and order meals.

Please click on the link below to read the New York Times article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/17/technology/17ecom.html?_r=2&ref=health&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

For more information on defending medical malpractice, nursing home and general liability matters in Florida contact Howard Citron at Citron & Associates, P.A. – www.citronlegal.com.

Physicians Beware: The Pitfalls of Giving Medical Advice on Social Networking Websites

Is a physician-patient relationship formed when a doctor writes a blog or otherwise contributes to a social networking website? Sometimes. Simply publishing general information on the Internet is unlikely to give rise to such a relationship. But the waters get a little murky if you’re answering direct questions. This is why it’s important that such postings include a prominent disclaimer—something that indicates that the material on the site is for informational purposes only and isn’t intended as a substitute for an office visit, which would include professional medical advice, diagnosis, and treatment. If, for example, you write something in a blog and a person hundreds of miles away applies it to himself when he shouldn’t have, your disclaimer might be the only thing standing between you and a successful liability suit. That’s because it’s reasonable for a layperson to assume that as a physician you have superior knowledge about medical matters. Moreover, chances are that some of the more than 45 million uninsured in the United States are using the Internet as their primary means of getting medical advice. And while it may be easy to establish that no physician-patient relationship existed under current standards, liability may still attach if you don’t add a disclaimer or if the advice seems to be sufficiently self-contained and personally directed to make a reasonable person believe that they could ignore the disclaimer and utilize the advice as it stands. The situation becomes more complex when you answer questions from people with whom you indisputably have a physician-patient relationship. Hosting a MySpace, FaceBook, or other social networking page is probably an effective and efficient way to interact with the people who use it. However, if you do host a chat room or a social networking area specifically for your patients, it’s foreseeable that some, if not most, will feel that because you know them and have a relationship with them, they can depend upon your posted information. In fact, many courts would agree with this view: Since these people are your patients, communicating with them through a chat room wouldn’t be materially different from offering advice via e-mail.  The best idea is to contact an attorney prior to engaging in this kind of activity. 

Please click on the link below to read the Medical Economics article:

http://medicaleconomics.modernmedicine.com/memag/Medical+Malpractice%3A+Risk+Management/Giving-medical-advice-on-social-networking-sites/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/494100?contextCategoryId=43935

For more information on defending medical malpractice, nursing home and general liability matters in Florida contact Howard Citron at Citron & Associates, P.A. – www.citronlegal.com.

Rhode Island: Bill Makes it Easier for Doctors to Apologize to Patients for Mistakes

In medicine, the words “I’m sorry” are anything but simple. Doctors tempted to offer an apology when things go wrong with a patient have learned to bite their tongues, aware that even basic sympathy could be construed as an admission of error should the case find its way to a courtroom. “I’m sorry,” in the medical community is tantamount to “I’m guilty,” they say. But a growing consortium of physicians around the country has come to believe that apologies help stem patient frustrations and could actually limit the number of lawsuits that force malpractice insurance to rise and make health care more expensive for everyone. Some patients aren’t interested in long legal battles or even the promise of monetary compensation, advocates say. They just want someone to look them in the eye and say they feel bad about what happened. In recent years, 35 states have passed so-called “I’m sorry” laws allowing doctors to apologize to patients without having to worry that their statements will be used against them in court. Now Rhode Island lawmakers are considering similar legislation that would make sympathetic comments inadmissible should a lawsuit follow.

Please click on the link below to read the Providence Journal article:

http://www.projo.com/news/content/IM_SORRY_BILL_03-19-08_OM9E7JK_v19.372d4bd.html

For more information on defending medical malpractice, nursing home and general liability matters in Florida contact Howard Citron at Citron & Associates, P.A. – www.citronlegal.com.

Florida International University to Open Medical School with New and Innovative Education Model

Florida International University is opening the first new medical school in a major metropolitan area in a quarter-century. It will be the first public medical school in South Florida. Although the new school won’t hold its first classes until next year, it has already attracted a lot of attention. College administrators expect their innovative model of medical education will produce physicians who can change the way healthcare is delivered, especially in America’s poorest communities. The new medical college in Miami is the answer to the needs of the local community, according to Dr. Jose Joe Greer, FIU College of Medicine’s Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs. Not only will it help ease the shortage of physicians in south Florida, he predicts it will graduate better prepared doctors. Students will study a wide range of subjects not part of the typical medical school curriculum, beginning in their first year with a course on the ethical, the theological, and the philosophical foundations of medicine. The alternative approach continues off-campus, as well. Greer explains that students will be assigned to visit and care for families in an at-risk neighborhood throughout their education.

Please click on the link below to read the Voice of America News article:

http://www.voanews.com/english/AmericanLife/2008-03-13-voa21.cfm

For more information on defending medical malpractice, nursing home and general liability matters in Florida contact Howard Citron at Citron & Associates, P.A. – www.citronlegal.com.

Study Reports: Trauma and Emergency Room Patients Routinely Exposed to Radiation

Many emergency departments and trauma centers utilize extensive radiologic studies during the assessment of trauma patients.  A point of concern arises about the possible biological effects of these cumulative radiation doses.  The objective of the study was to determine the amount of ionizing radiation received by adult blunt trauma patients at Level I trauma centers during the first 24 hours of their care.  The study found that trauma patients meeting the less acute major triage criteria were exposed to clinically important radiation doses from diagnostic radiographic imaging during the first 24 hours of care. 

Please click on the link below to read the article published by the American College of Emergency Physicians:

http://www.annemergmed.com/webfiles/images/journals/ymem/jewinslow.pdf

For more information on defending medical malpractice, nursing home and general liability matters in Florida contact Howard Citron at Citron & Associates, P.A. – www.citronlegal.com.

Massachusetts: Report Urges Changes to Medical Malpractice System

A new report is urging sweeping changes to the state’s medical malpractice system. The findings released by Uxbridge State Sen. Richard Moore’s office recommend a malpractice system based on early disclosure to patients, followed by an apology and an offer of compensation. It also says the changes would decrease the number of malpractice cases that end up in court. Some Massachusetts hospitals have already started similar programs. Massachusetts Medical Society president Dale Magee says the changes echo what doctors have been recommending for years. But defenders of the existing system say the courts are still the best way to protect patients’ rights.

Please click on the link below to read the WPRI News article:

http://www.wpri.com/Global/story.asp?S=7999974&nav=F2DO

For more information on defending medical malpractice, nursing home and general liability matters in Florida contact Howard Citron at Citron & Associates, P.A. – www.citronlegal.com.

Nevada: Some Rethinking Cap Non-Economic Damages in Medical Malpractice Cases

The television ad clinched it. The image of trusted doctors in white coats trooping out of the state to flee high malpractice insurance rates bombarded voters, who overwhelmingly decided to cap the amount of money juries could award plaintiffs in medical malpractice cases. The bitter fight in 2004, marked by twisted statistics and emotional hyperbole, pit doctors against trial lawyers — and the doctors won. But four months ago, a three-year shield that prevented the Legislature from touching the voter-imposed law expired. Now, an unprecedented health scare linked to unsafe practices in surgical centers across Nevada has gripped the state, prompting some lawmakers and lawyers to call for a review of the punitive damages cap. While not many are suggesting the caps — which limit pain and suffering awards to $350,000 — should be removed, several key lawmakers said they would support reinstating exemptions for gross negligence or extreme cases. They say the hepatitis C outbreak linked to unsanitary syringe use at a Las Vegas clinic that sickened six people and put at risk 40,000 more is a prime example of an extreme case for which victims need better compensation. Such exemptions were part of emergency legislation passed by the Legislature in 2002. Proponents of reexamining the caps argue such doctor immunity fails to deter unsafe practices. They also argue that $350,000 is a paltry sum for someone who contracted a chronic life-threatening disease because of a doctor’s negligence.

Please click on the link below to read the Reno Gazette-Journal article:

http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080317/NEWS04/803170340/1007/NEWS

For more information on defending medical malpractice, nursing home and general liability matters in Florida contact Howard Citron at Citron & Associates, P.A. – www.citronlegal.com.

Hazards: Enlisting Hospitals in Fight Against Carbon Monoxide

Carbon Monoxide is odorless and colorless. And it can do its work quietly, sickening and even killing people without their knowing they are being poisoned. But some of these cases might be caught, a new study suggests, if doctors began routinely testing emergency room patients for carbon monoxide exposure. Writing online in The Journal of Emergency Medicine, researchers said a simple test, using a device clamped on one finger, could measure oxygen and carbon monoxide levels in the blood quickly and inexpensively. Carbon monoxide poisoning, often caused by leaks from faulty heating systems, sends about 15,000 Americans a year to the hospital and kills about 480, the study said. Because the symptoms resemble those of other illnesses, hospitals may provide improper treatment and return the patient to the environment where the exposure occurred. For the study, researchers at Brown University screened more than 10,000 emergency room patients who came in over about two months. In all, 11 were found to have unexpectedly high carbon monoxide levels. If the figures bear out on a national level, the researchers said, that would amount to about 11,000 undetected case a year. While hospitals routinely use clip-on devices to test blood-oxygen levels, most cannot also test for carbon monoxide. The company making the device that can do tests helped to pay for the study. But the researchers said they had no financial ties to the company.

Please click on the link below to read the New York Times article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/26/health/research/26haza.html?ref=health

For more information on defending medical malpractice, nursing home and general liability matters in Florida contact Howard Citron at Citron & Associates, P.A. – www.citronlegal.com.

New York: Increase in Medical Malpractice Premiums Raise Concern About Already Growing Physician Shortage

Talks of increasing malpractice charges for New York physicians have area doctors concerned that the move would add to a growing physician shortage in the state. New York State Insurance Department Superintendent Eric Dinallo, who heads a commission that is studying the dramatic increase in medical malpractice costs in the state, has proposed adding a $50,000 fee to each doctor in the state to help off-set those growing costs. He has also suggested increasing the premium doctors pay for malpractice insurance 25 percent over the next five years. That rate increased 14 percent in 2007. “It is already hard to convince new doctors to come to New York because of the poor reimbursement rates,” said Plattsburgh Radiologist Dr. Jeff Buran in reference to the pre-defined rates doctors receive for services from insurance companies, including Medicare. “This (malpractice increase) will only make it that much more difficult.” Three insurers currently provide doctors with malpractice coverage in New York State. All facing significant financial short falls.

Please click on the link below to read the Press Republican article:

http://www.pressrepublican.com/homepage/local_story_069220055.html

For more information on defending medical malpractice, nursing home and general liability matters in Florida contact Howard Citron at Citron & Associates, P.A. – www.citronlegal.com.

Medical Malpractice: Expert Opinion on Standard of Care from Non-US Physician Sufficient

A plaintiff’s expert—an orthopedist whose practice is in Israel—in a medical malpractice action had sufficient familiarity with treating injuries similar to the one at issue to establish a triable issue of fact that may proceed to trial, a state appeals court ruled. The California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, reversed the trial court’s decision granting summary judgment in favor of defendants, finding the decision was based on the erroneous conclusion that the declaration of plaintiff’s only expert on the standard of care was inadmissible because he was not familiar with the standard of care in Southern California. Plaintiff Nurit Avivi, while visiting the United States from Israel in September 2004, injured her right hand and arm in a fall. Avivi went to the emergency room at defendant Centro Medico Urgente Medical Center (Centro Medico), where physician assistants set Avivi’s arm in a splint. Although Avivi returned to Centro Medico on two separate occasions for follow-up appointments complaining about continued pain and swelling, she was provided only with additional pain medication and instructed to keep wearing the splint. Two weeks later, after she returned to Israel, Avivi had her arm examined by an orthopedist, Dr. Arieh Arielli. Concluding the splint had restricted blood circulation in Avivi’s arm because it had been applied too tightly, Arielli removed the splint and replaced it with a full cast. Three months later, Arielli diagnosed Avivi with a number of permanent injuries caused by the splinting of her arm. Avivi sued Centro Medico and other individual defendants for medical malpractice.

Please click on the links below to read the Medical Economics article and the Court’s opinion:

http://medicaleconomics.modernmedicine.com/memag/Legal+Update/Medical-Malpractice-Expert-opinion-on-standard-of-/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/503703?contextCategoryId=44120

http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/documents/B195097.PDF

For more information on defending medical malpractice, nursing home and general liability matters in Florida contact Howard Citron at Citron & Associates, P.A. – www.citronlegal.com.

Proposed Florida Bill Would Limit Liability for Emergency Room Doctors

Check with the national board of neurosurgeons, and you’ll find 12 neurosurgeons listed in St. Petersburg. But how many are willing to be on call for emergencies at Bayfront Medical Center, Pinellas County’s only trauma center? Three. More of those doctors would be willing to be on call if they weren’t afraid of being sued, say Florida emergency doctors, hospitals and health leaders who want to pass a bill protecting emergency health care workers and hospitals from large legal claims. “We have to do something,” said Dr. Larry Hobbs, president of the Florida College of Emergency Physicians. “We have to look at emergency care as a societal need.” But opponents say such protection would be unfair to injured patients, open the door to extending protection to doctors in non-emergency cases, and wouldn’t bring doctors back to the emergency room anyway. Doctors have other reasons for not being on call, they said. The bill would make health care workers “agents of the state” when they are treating emergencies. It would include doctors, nurses, paramedics and hospitals. Any lawsuits against such workers would be limited to $200,000, unless legislators pass a special bill to authorize more. Such acts are increasingly rare.

Please click on the link below to read the St. Petersburg Times article:

http://www.tampabay.com/news/health/article421507.ece

For more information on defending medical malpractice, nursing home and general liability matters in Florida contact Howard Citron at Citron & Associates, P.A. – www.citronlegal.com.

Report: Ohio’s Medical Malpractice Claims Appear Down From 2005, Data Difficult to Compare

The number of medical malpractice claims settled in Ohio in 2006 is down from 2005, but an Ohio Department of Insurance official said the data are hard to compare from year to year. At the end of last month, the Ohio Department of Insurance issued its second Ohio Medical Liability Closed Claim Report. According to the report, 93 insurance providers closed 4,004 medical malpractice claims in 2006. The 2006 total from the annual report was down from the 5,051 claims by 91 insurance providers in 2005, but the closed claims are difficult to compare from year to year, said Robert Denhard, a public information officer for the department of insurance. “Claims can take from five, to eight, to 10 years to close,” Denhard said. Because claims can take years to settle, current data are hard to compile, said Robin White, the medical malpractice specialist for Reed & Baur Insurance in Athens. It can be difficult to compare the number of claims in Athens to other areas because of privacy laws, White said. The specific data filed to the department by insurance providers is confidential and not subject to public records laws. The insurance agencies also wouldn’t be allowed to discuss their claims because of privacy laws, White said. About 80 percent of the claims resulted in no payment to the claimant, but the 20 percent of claims closed with a payment totaled about $229 million with an average of about $288,000, according to a news release. Although most of these claims resulted in no payment, they still produced expenses for investigation and defense, totaling about $88 million, averaging about $26,000 per claim, compared to 2005’s average of about $24,000 per claim.

Please click on the link below to read the Post article:

http://www.thepost.ohiou.edu/Articles/News/2008/02/14/22887/

For more information on defending medical malpractice, nursing home and general liability matters in Florida contact Howard Citron at Citron & Associates, P.A. – www.citronlegal.com.

Florida: Doctors’ On-Call Emergency Room Pay Renewed

How difficult is it to get a specialist to see emergency room patients at Glades General Hospital in Belle Glade? So difficult that the hospital has agreed to pay obstetrician/gynecologist Ahmed Barhoush $500 a day to be on call. It pays general surgeon Caesar Orduna $400 a day and lung specialist Yaw Abu $200 a day. That’s before the doctors see a patient. They may still get paid by insurance companies for treating an ER case.  Glades General officials say they have little choice. “Glades General Hospital, like other hospitals, faces significant challenges in maintaining adequate specialty coverage for ER patients,” said Glades General CEO David Zechman. The Health Care District of Palm Beach County, which owns Glades General, appears to agree. Wednesday, the district renewed the on-call contracts. Until about five years ago, local doctors did not get extra cash to handle emergencies. They did it in exchange for being granted privileges to work at the hospital and as a way to find new patients. But as concerns over malpractice have intensified and as doctors are called to treat more uninsured patients, physicians in South Florida and elsewhere have begun to avoid being on call – or request money for their time.

Please click on the link below to read the Palm Beach Post article: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/business/content/business/epaper/2008/03/13/a1d_erpay_0313.html

For more information on defending medical malpractice, nursing home and general liability matters in Florida contact Howard Citron at Citron & Associates, P.A. – www.citronlegal.com.

UCLA Workers Allegedly Snooped in Britney Spears’ Medical Records

UCLA Medical Center is taking steps to fire at least 13 employees and has suspended at least six others for snooping in the confidential medical records of pop star Britney Spears during her recent hospitalization in its psychiatric unit, a person familiar with the matter said. In addition, six physicians face discipline for peeking at her computerized records, the person said. Questioned about the breaches, officials acknowledged that it was not the first time UCLA had disciplined workers for looking at Spears’ records. Several were caught prying into records after Spears gave birth to her first son, Sean Preston, in September 2005 at Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital, officials said. Some were fired.

Please click on the link below to read the Los Angeles Times article:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-britney15mar15,0,1421107.story

For more information on defending medical malpractice, nursing home and general liability matters in Florida contact Howard Citron at Citron & Associates, P.A. – www.citronlegal.com.