Massachusetts Lacks Legal Tools To Go After Cases Involving Doctors, Sexual Abuse
District Attorney Marian Ryan says Massachusetts' high court has previously ruled that the state law governing rape does not cover instances in which someone obtains consent through fraud. “There’s no real point in saying to someone let’s go forward when you know you are going to lose,’’ Ryan said.
The Boston Globe:
Problem In Prosecuting Sex Cases By Doctors
It violates medical ethics, but is it clearly against the law for a doctor to touch a patient sexually under the guise that it’s critical to her care? In some states it is illegal, but not in Massachusetts, according to the Middlesex district attorney’s office. This gap in state law is the reason the office recently decided not to prosecute Dr. Roger Ian Hardy, the popular fertility specialist accused of molesting patients, according to a lawyer for one of his alleged victims. (Kowalczyk, 7/21)
In other news about health care personnel, a study finds doctors have favorite patients, packed schedules keep physicians too busy to talk about end of life options and more training around admitting to medical mistakes may be needed —
The Baltimore Sun:
Study Finds Doctors Do Have Favorite Patients
It’s true, doctors do have favorite patients. That’s the conclusion of a new study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. That doesn’t mean they play favorites, according to the research, which specifically found that the doctors were aware of their feelings and actively sought to provide good care for everyone. (Cohn, 7/21)
WBUR:
Thinking About Dying, Even When The Doctor Has No Time For It
The vast majority of patients haven’t told their doctor what kind of care they want at the end of life, which means some could be put on a breathing machine even if they might not have wanted it. Still other patients could receive care that’s less aggressive than they want. A recent survey suggests why: 66 percent of primary physicians and specialists in California said they didn’t have enough time to talk about end-of-life decision-making in their hospitals and clinics. (Lahey, 7/20)
Kaiser Health News:
For Surgeons, Talking About Adverse Events Can Be Difficult: Study
Dr. Thomas Gallagher has been through many tough conversations with patients. He remembers once standing in front of a patient and the patient’s family, preparing to tell them about a mistake that had occurred. "This is a topic I think about all the time and it was still very nerve-racking and embarrassing,” said Gallagher, an internist and a professor at the University of Washington's medical school specializing in quality and patient safety issues. The patient had been sent to another clinic an hour away to get an MRI, but because of a miscommunication, the MRI was done in the wrong area of the body and would have to be repeated. ... Medical mistakes often happen. National guidelines call for doctors to provide full disclosure about adverse events, and studies have shown that those discussions benefit patients. (Tan, 7/20)
And a doctor in Orlando is determined to help the last Pulse victim in his hospital to keep fighting —
Orlando Sentinel:
Doctor Still Wearing Bloody Shoes; 1 Patient Remains In Hospital
Dr. Joshua Corsa is still wearing his bloodstained shoes. Corsa, the resident who wrote a moving Facebook post with the photo of his shoes that were bloodied as Pulse victims came into ORMC on June 12, vowed to keep wearing them until the last patient is released. Of the 44 patients who were taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center after the shooting, nine died shortly after arrival. Most of the others were discharged within weeks of the shooting, but two were still hospitalized. (Miller, 7/20)
