Abstract
This chapter focuses on legal, clinical, and risk-management issues that create pitfalls for the family physician. Examples of legal issues are vicarious liability and ostensible agency. Clinical issues include the timely diagnosis and treatment of conditions such as cancer and heart disease. Difficult-to-diagnose conditions such as pulmonary emboli and dissecting aortic aneurysms are also discussed. Risk-management issues that can destroy an otherwise viable defense are also noted. These include record tampering, failure to obtain informed consent or informed refusal, and the practice of treating patients over the telephone. The importance of the contemporaneous medical record is stressed.
Key Words
- Risk management
- informed consent
- record tampering
- standard of care
- prescription errors
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© 2005 Humana Press Inc., Totowa, NJ
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Weiss, M.H. (2005). Risk Management for the Family Physician. In: Anderson, R.E. (eds) Medical Malpractice. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-845-8_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-845-8_8
Publisher Name: Humana Press
Print ISBN: 978-1-58829-389-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-59259-845-8
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)