IMPORTANCE Honesty and transparency are essential aspects of health care, including in physicians' and hospitals' responses to medical error. Biases and habits associated with medical malpractice litigation, however, may work at cross-purposes with compassion in clinical care and with efforts to improve patient safety. OBJECTIVE To determine the frequency of nondisclosure agreements in medica...

Psychiatric malpractice lawsuits frequently include allegations of negligence related to the use of psychotropic medications because these drugs are vital to the treatment of mental disorders. A host of controversies about the safety of psychotropic medications has been widely publicized, debated and considered in various realms (e.g., regulatory, research, clinical, drug industry, medical prof...

epithets, attorneys remain shadows in the background throughout the text. He ignores, however, the legal profession's view of the malpractice phenomena as found in contemporary legal journals. Several problems hinder De Ville's analysis. He never explains how his causal factors interacted and contributed to the rise of malpractice suits, nor does he weigh their relative importance. While he sho...

2281 include heart transplantations, but its design was revised to focus on those organs for which there is a greater need. It is hoped that funds will become available to add heart transplantation if the preliminary results are positive. Progress in the clinical management of HIV infection has been influenced not only by investigators and clinicians, but also by patients and their advocates. R...

receptors, the in vivo imaging of dopamine and its receptors, the discovery of new dopamine agonists, the surprise revelation that the relatively simple neurotoxin 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,5,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) is an etiologic factor of parkinsonism in humans, and the development of novel approaches to bromocriptine therapy. The volume is divided into six main sections: anatomy, biochemist...

Physicians in the United States have serious concerns about the exorbitant cost of medical liability insurance. The expense continues to have a major impact on physician practice patterns and access to medical services in many communities. More than 30 years ago, difficulty in obtaining adequate and affordable medical liability coverage generated new legislative initiatives in many states, incl...

Trends in malpractice awards and adverse actions (e.g., revocation of provider license) following an act or omission constituting medical error or negligence were examined. The National Practitioner Data Bank was used to compare rates of malpractice reports and adverse actions for physicians, physician assistants (PAs), and nurse practitioners (NPs). During 2005 through 2014, there ranged from ...

Since its beginning and, more effectively, since the Middle Ages, medical practice has been the subject of relentless social control and, consequently, of the Law itself. In this sense, Medieval Medicine was subjected to the practical analysis of obtained results, whether with the use of medications or surgical interventions, thus defining what therapeutic success, accidental result, unforeseea...