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PubMedDate not supplied

Giving birth in America, 1988.

Advances in medical science have improved the prospects for pregnant women to deliver safely and for childless women to become pregnant. However, the picture is not as positive as it may seem. The liability crisis that is driving many obstetricians out of practice is likely to persist, limiting women's access to obstetric care. Reliance on cesarean delivery has risen to unacceptable levels, in part as a result of excessive use of electronic fetal monitoring. Pregnancy complications, prematurity and perinatal morbidity and mortality continue to be serious problems. U.S. perinatal mortality data do not compare favorably with those of many other developed nations, and the rate of prematurity will probably exceed that 1990 target of five percent set by the U.S. government. Prematurity and pregnancy complications are rooted in the associated social factors of poverty, welfare dependence and limited education, and they will not be eliminated until those problems are eased. There also is little hope that obstetric outcomes can be improved without reducing the extent of smoking, drug use and alcohol consumption during pregnancy. Infertility also can be caused or worsened by social factors that defy easy resolution. For the next 20 years, dealing with these societal problems should be a top priority.

Black or African American↗
PubMed2004

Medical liability. The dilemma of litigations.

OBJECTIVE: Most if not all of the physicians are ill prepared when it comes to facing a medical litigation. Having witnessed that first hand on numerous occasions made me decide to write on this issue to offer some insight and advice on the matter as it is obvious no one is immune in the medical profession. In addition, the number of medical litigation cases is on the rise. There is no doubt that the matter is of great importance not only to doctors, medical and dental students but also to other health care workers. METHODS: The data of the cases submitted to the Medico-legal committee of the Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from various parts of the country for the period 1420 through to 1423 H (1999-2003) were examined and analyzed. A total of 2223 cases were referred to the various committees over the past 4-years for considerations. RESULTS: Obstetrics lead the way in being the most litigation prone medical specialty. Surgery takes the second place followed by internal medicine pediatrics being the fourth in order of frequency. The other specialties are some where in between. Least number of malpractice lawsuits were filed against the dental profession. CONCLUSION: Litigations can not be totally prevented but it could be limited to only the legitimate ones.

Cross-Sectional Studies↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Medicolegal affairs. International Academy of Cytology Task Force summary. Diagnostic Cytology Towards the 21st Century: An International Expert Conference and Tutorial.

ISSUES: Increasing litigation over alleged false negative cervical cytologic (CC) smears threatens the viability of this test for cervical cancer detection. The problem appears to be largely American but is beginning to appear in some other countries. In the vast majority of cases there is either a settlement or jury verdict for the plaintiff based largely on the testimony of expert witnesses. Cases are judged on an individual basis without significant consideration of the general performance of the CC smear in laboratories operating in compliance with a wide array of laboratory regulations and with documented and comprehensive quality control practices in place. It is acknowledged that there are problem laboratories and cytology practitioners. There is an emerging issue of automated preparation and screening devices and issues of informed patient consent. CONSENSUS POSITION: Cytology professionals have done an extraordinary and commendable job of educating the public about the benefits of the CC smear. We have been less successful and conscientious about explaining and defining the limitations of the CC test. There is a need for public and professional education as to the benefits and limitations of the CC smear for cervical cancer detection. The process suggested is to work with women's groups, public health agencies, government agencies, and state and national legislatures and to coordinate professional committees working on liability issues. Contextual information could be included with the CC smear report to indicate that a negative report confers a low probability of developing cervical cancer. It is suggested that appropriate language and a menu of statements be developed. Increased efforts should be directed to physician education with respect to informed consent concerning the benefits and limitations of CC smear testing and the application of new technology to improve smear accuracy. The process should include development of appropriate statements on the use of alternative technology. The profession should develop "process guidelines" for review of CC smears in the context of possible litigation, including standardized methods for blind slide review of smears that reduce or eliminate context and outcome bias. It is suggested that review panels be anonymous, that the process be standardized and that there be limitations on liability for participating organizations. Professional cytopathology and pathology societies should formulate acceptable guidelines for expert witnesses. The standards should be applicable to both defendant and plaintiff experts. All materials to the extent practical, including consultant opinions, should be available for peer review. Professional cytopathology and pathology societies should monitor expert testimony for objectivity and scientific accuracy. ONGOING ISSUES: For the near future, litigation will continue to focus on false negative CC smears on a case-by-case basis. Laboratories and individuals can reduce the risk of malpractice liability by directing their attention to proactive quality control and quality assurance methods. In the final analysis, consumer education about the benefits and limitations of the test is key to limiting malpractice claims. To stem the tide of continued medicolegal challenges to the integrity of cytology practice, the cytology community has now focused its efforts on developing and utilizing standards that convey to patients, attorneys and cytologists the contemporary status of and reasonable expectations for the practice of cytology. Guidelines such as those for uniform reporting terminology and clinical management of cervical abnormalities form the basis of cytology practice standards on which legal standards of practice can be based. Consensus conference reports, clinical management trials and scientifically valid studies of false negative rates that analyze the type, frequency and cause of missed cases represent sounder methods of establishing defensible

Cell Biology↗
PubMed1993

The North Carolina obstetrics access and professional liability study: a rural-urban analysis.

During the 1980s a rapid rise in the costs of malpractice coverage for obstetrical services caused many practitioners to stop delivering babies. Other factors also influenced the decision by physicians to exclude obstetrics from their practices, including: increases in malpractice claims made against obstetrical providers and the subsequent fear of being sued; closures of hospital obstetrics units; issues involving Medicaid; and the daily stresses inherent in providing obstetrical care. Rural areas were particularly vulnerable to these factors. North Carolina was not unlike other states in recognizing a severe drop in access to obstetrical services in many communities, and policies were proposed to address this problem through tort reform, malpractice subsidies, and Medicaid program expansion. The exodus of obstetrical providers seemed especially critical in rural areas, and this article presents a metropolitan-nonmetropolitan analysis of the results of a survey of all obstetricians and gynecologists active and licensed to practice in North Carolina. The analysis is focused on provider responses to proposed policies and also examines the clinical support networks for these physicians to determine if this might also be an area for future policy activity. Important differences were found between rural and urban providers in terms of intensity of obstetrical practice, adequacy of backup, Medicaid participation and caseload, ideas about tort reform, and recent changes in obstetrical practice. The results indicate that policies to increase demand or income can help solve the rural obstetrical access problem but that states should pay equal attention to the clinical support system for practitioners.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed2005

The impact of medical legal risk on obstetrician-gynecologist supply.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of medical legal risk on practice location of obstetrician-gynecologists. METHODS: We used the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) Membership Record to determine the number of Fellows and Junior Fellows by state. We obtained state malpractice premiums from the Medical Liability Monitor and state birth rates from the National Center for Health Statistics. The American Medical Association (AMA) "Crisis" and ACOG "Red Alert" designations, as well as state malpractice premium levels, were used to approximate malpractice risk. We examined the changes in state births to obstetrician-gynecologist rates from 1995 to 2003 by using the Student t test and Mann-Whitney tests. Comparisons were made between states of different risk levels. RESULTS: We found no significant difference in the percentage changes in births per Fellow or births per Junior Fellow between AMA "Crisis" and remaining states, nor between ACOG "Red Alert" and Safe states. The percentage changes in births per Fellow were similar in the 10 highest-premium states and the 10 lowest-premium states. The percentage increase in births per Junior Fellow in the 10 highest-premium states was significantly greater than the 10 lowest-premium states (median 28.5% versus 5.0%, P = .03). CONCLUSION: Malpractice premiums appear to influence practice location of new obstetrician-gynecologists. Neither the AMA designation of "Crisis" nor the ACOG designation of "Red Alert" had supply implications in the analysis. More research on the interaction of malpractice rates and obstetrician-gynecologist supply is needed for informed decisions regarding malpractice premium management.

Birth Rate↗
PubMed1989

Emerging opportunities for physician-attorneys in the purchaser-driven health care industry of the 1990s.

The litigation explosion of the past decade-and-a-half has provided physician-attorneys with a seemingly endless source of opportunities for full- and part-time employment. For this and other reasons, physician-attorneys in the late 1980s still devote a substantial part of their professional time to activities directly or indirectly related to medical litigation. Nevertheless, the winds of change are blowing and soon will reach hurricane force. The excesses of the medical and legal systems (best exemplified by the litigation explosion) have sown the seeds of their own ultimate destruction during the 1990s. As a result of the substantial provider glut, the purchasers of health care are now in charge. To the extent that purchasers determine that professional liability premiums, legal costs, and defensive medical practices increase their health benefit costs, they will redesign benefit programs to provide appropriate financial incentives to channel subscribers to both the high quality, cost-effective providers and alternative medical dispute resolution options other than litigation. As the percentage of lawyers' and law firms' revenues attributable to medical litigation diminishes, one of the first expenses to be cut will be that previously allocable to physician-attorneys for expert medicolegal review and case evaluation. Medical care value purchasing is rapidly becoming the centerpiece of the emerging purchaser-driven health care industry of the 1990s. This should give way to an unprecedented demand by purchasers and providers alike for medical care evaluation, health data analysis, and the implementation of systems to measure and monitor the quality and cost-effectiveness of health care delivery. Providers, especially physician-leaders, can and should play critically important roles in helping purchasers and themselves to evaluate and improve the overall quality and cost-effectiveness of health care services. It is this increasingly important area of expert endeavor in which physician-attorneys can and should find the majority of their long-term professional opportunities. However, to capitalize on this, physician-attorneys must effect a major redirection in their primary emphasis. Although they have a distinctive training advantage in the emerging quality-driven industry over that of physician-M.B.A.s, most physician-attorneys have continued to use these skills in the reactionary world of litigation, which will rapidly go the way of the dinosaur in the 1990s.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Delivery of Health Care↗
PubMed1975

Protection against malpractice litigation.

Malpractice insurance costs are based on loss experience and defenses of expenses. Physicians in the high-risk category are in that position because, as a group, they have a high frequency of claims, a high average cost, or both. True, "defensive medicine" is the best way to minimize the risks. This does not mean ordering unnecessary tests or refusal of essential treatment. Rather, it is the habit of exercising extra care and foresight to avoid medical hazards and to apply prompt remedial measures when they occur. It means being aware of the patient's personality and needs. It means taking time to talk to the patient about proposed procedures and their risks. This kind of "defensive medicine" offers the best hope for reducing the frequency and cost of claims that result in the present critical malpractice problems.

Communication↗
PubMed1994

The sky is falling.

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Costs and Cost Analysis↗