Louisiana: Legal Protections for Doctors During Disasters Advance

The Legislature is nearing final passage on a package of bills designed to protect medical personnel from lawsuits that stem from health care delivered during declared emergencies. Two of the measures, Senate Bills 301 and 330 by Sen. Joel Chaisson II, D-Destrehan, are inspired and backed by Dr. Anna Pou, the New Orleans physician who was arrested but never indicted and still faces civil lawsuits related to patient deaths at Memorial Medical Center after Hurricane Katrina. The bills, which cleared the House Civil Law and Procedure Committee on Monday after passing the Senate without opposition, would provide lawsuit protections for paid medical professionals not covered under the existing Good Samaritan Act. That statute offers immunity from civil lawsuits for providers who voluntarily offer their care to an emergency victim in need.

Please click on the link below to read the Times-Picayune article:

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/capital/index.ssf?/base/news-6/1211260934247440.xml&coll=1

For more information on defending medical malpractice and nursing home matters in Florida contact Howard Citron at The Citron Law Firm, P.A. – www.citronlegal.com.

Boca Raton Hospital Part of Total Cancer Care

Boca Raton Community Hospital said it is taking part in a study that aims to use molecular technology to enhance the ability to diagnose and treat cancer patients. The study, called Total Cancer Care, is a collaboration between the state of Florida, the Moffitt Cancer Centerand Merck & Co. There are currently 14 sites in Florida, and BRCH is the only one in South Florida. It will administer the study through its Eugene M. & Christine E. Lynn Cancer Institute under the direction of medical oncologist Dr. Louise Morrell. The hospital said researchers can now test each tumor for about 30,000 genes, which provide a molecular “fingerprint” unique to each tumor. By studying those unique molecular structures, it says, scientists are working to be able to develop new drug therapies tailored to the individual. The hospital said patients who participate in Total Cancer Care will also benefit from access to individualized clinical trials as they develop, and new medicines as they become available. It will enroll 2,500 cancer patients into the research program over the next five years, with an immediate focus on breast, prostate, brain, lung, pancreatic, colorectal and ovarian tissue.

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

http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2008/05/19/daily35.html?f=et81&ana=e_du

For more information on defending medical malpractice and nursing home matters in Florida contact Howard Citron at The Citron Law Firm, P.A. – www.citronlegal.com.