In recent posts, we looked briefly at what exactly an affidavit of merit is and the requirement a physician must meet in order to sign off on an affidavit. As we noted, physicians must meet the same requirements as an expert witness, which we briefly summarized last...
Medical Malpractice
What is an affidavit of merit and why does it matter in med mal litigation?
The concept of merit is an important one when pursuing medical malpractice litigation. Merit refers to the plaintiff's basis for pursuing the claim. A case which has merit has a valid basis such that a court could find that the plaintiff's legal rights have been...
Gaining access to medical records: a common challenge in medical malpractice litigation
Surgical procedures involve various risks. As we’ve pointed out in recent posts, surgeons can and do sometimes make mistakes. Sometimes these errors are serious and leave the patient with permanent health problems.A recent example of this is the case of an Oak...
Study highlights family physicians’ knowledge gap regarding lung cancer screening, P.2
In our last post, we looked briefly at a recent study which highlighted, at least to a small extent, the concern that family physicians may not have adequate knowledge of cancer screening guidelines, at least in the context of recommending effective screening for lung...
Study highlights family physicians’ knowledge gap regarding lung cancer screening
We have previously written on this blog about failure to properly diagnose cancer, and the duty of physicians recommend appropriate screening tests and track a patient's conditions, noticing potential warning signs of cancer and referring to specialists when...
Did your physician fail to recommend cancer screening?
Last time, we looked briefly at new lung cancer screening technology and noted that physicians have the duty to take appropriate action with regard to cancer screening, whether this means referring a patient to a specialist or ordering appropriate tests for the...
Lung cancer breath test could be effective screening tool
When it comes to treating cancer, early detection and treatment are critical to success. Screening guidelines exist for a wide variety of cancers, with breast, colon, and skin cancer being among the more well known and performed screenings. Some forms of cancer are...
Federal program shares similarities with Michigan Model on med mal dispute resolution, P.2
In our last post, we looked briefly at a federal program known as CANDOR which aims to help federally funded hospitals adopt dispute resolution programs which increase hospital and provider transparency in dealing with patients. The program is being promotedAs...
Federal program shares similarities with Michigan Model on med mal dispute resolution
A federal program being promoted by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality is now seeking to implement in federally funded hospitals some of the same principles that have made the dispute resolution model used at the University of Michigan Health...
Rules of evidence and physician statements of fault, P.2
In our last post, we began speaking a bit about the rules of evidence in medical malpractice cases. Our discussion is specifically about physician admissions of fault and their place in medical malpractice cases. As we’ve noted, Michigan law prevents medical...