Monday, September 13, 2004
Another malpractice story to chill the bones
Judges in Arizona have found that a radiologist screening tuberculosis chest X-rays might have to call each patient that has any kind of abnormality. Amazing.
That might sound reasonable to a lay person, but it is a breathtaking expansion of what the doctor-patient relationship has always been. This doc sent a report detailing his findings, which is what he should have done. But that apparently was just not enough for the Arizona judges who think he should have to call each of the sixty patients, each day, he sees xrays on and establish a doctor-patient relationship with them, even though he'll probably never see them face to face. No liability for the people who got the report and should have acted on it--their pockets aren't deep enough to pay the lawyer's bills, I guess.
That might sound reasonable to a lay person, but it is a breathtaking expansion of what the doctor-patient relationship has always been. This doc sent a report detailing his findings, which is what he should have done. But that apparently was just not enough for the Arizona judges who think he should have to call each of the sixty patients, each day, he sees xrays on and establish a doctor-patient relationship with them, even though he'll probably never see them face to face. No liability for the people who got the report and should have acted on it--their pockets aren't deep enough to pay the lawyer's bills, I guess.
# posted by Unknown @ 6:46 PM 
