Revising Autopsy Reports: A Question of Ethics

Experts agree that it is acceptable and often necessary to revise autopsy reports, but some say accepted practice when a new cause of death is made is to amend the original autopsy report, providing an explanation. A doctor who lost a medical malpractice case has criticized former Allegheny County Coroner Dr. Cyril H. Wecht for writing an autopsy report that described one cause of death, then revising it more than two years later without explanation or changing the date. “If that opinion is to be changed, it has to follow a pretty rigid protocol,” said Jeff Segal, the founder and chief executive officer of Medical Justice, an organization based in Greensboro, N.C., that protects physicians from frivolous lawsuits. Doctors are taught not to change records without thorough explanation. “It’s the type of thing that should be explained away pretty quickly and not left to fester,” Dr. Segal said. “It certainly doesn’t smell right.” But Dr. John Meyer, a forensic pathologist in Boulder, Colo., disagreed. Though an amendment can be attached to an old report, a forensic pathologist can choose to simply write a new one, he said. “I don’t think that necessarily implies anything sinister. I don’t think there is any law or rule that says how it should be done per se.” Dr. Jeffrey Jentzen, president of the National Association of Medical Examiners, said he is not aware of any official, written policy dictating how reports should be changed. He said, though, that backdating is not a good idea and any changes should be accompanied by explanation. “We typically don’t care which side is right or wrong. For most of our membership, almost without exception, we’re unbiased observers of fact,” Dr. Jentzen said, noting that Dr. Wecht is a member. “When we have an opinion, we advocate for that. We don’t necessarily shop the opinion.” Though they may not be written, Dr. Eric L. Vey, a forensic pathologist in Erie County, said there are well-established standards of practice. New findings in a cause of death are to be typed in bold, including an explanation indicating it is an amended or corrected report, he said. Then, the forensic pathologist should sign it with the current date that the report was amended, Dr. Vey said.

Please click on the link below to read the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08223/903227-455.stm

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.

Pfizer Acquires Rights to Alzheimer’s Drug

The pharmaceutical company, Pfizer, said Wednesday that it was acquiring the rights to a promising experimental drug for Alzheimer’s disease from Medivation for as much as $725 million. Pfizer, which is seeking to bolster its pipeline of experimental drugs, will pay an initial $225 million for rights to the medicine, Dimebon, which is also being developed for Huntington’s disease, the companies said. Pfizer will pay Medivation, which is based in San Francisco, up to $500 million more should Dimebon reach various development and regulatory goals, plus additional undisclosed commercial milestone payments. Results for Dimebon were presented at a prominent Alzheimer’s conference in July, when the drug showed it kept symptoms of the brain-wasting disease at bay for 18 months.

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

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/business/04drug.html?ref=health

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.