Miami Medical Malpractice Law Blog

The Affordable Care Act opened the door for surgeons in Florida and across the nation to use technology in their practices by videotaping surgeries. This procedure could enhance accountability and allow them to show patients the recording after the surgery, possibly reducing the need for a lawsuit. However, some opponents think that attorneys might look for such videos in order to file lawsuits.

A video of a surgery could help patients by giving them practical information that they could pass on to future medical personnel or even the same surgeon. If a patient needs a second opinion, he or she could easily review the video. In one study, medical personnel focused more thoroughly on their work when they were told they were being recorded for later review.

Florida residents may know that workplace bullying is not uncommon, but when doctors are the culprits, it can affect more than office morale. A dangerous or fatal surgical error, misdiagnosis or other injury can harm patients if workers are distracted by bullying behavior on the part of doctors in hospitals, clinical settings and offices.

Since 2009, the Joint Commission, which accredits hospitals and other healthcare sites, has published safety standards including directives on dealing with intimidating or harassing behavior. This can include verbal insults, physical altercations and even refusal to answer questions. Both patients and co-workers may suffer from this type of treatment.

An historic decline in pregnancy-related mortality has largely disappeared, and numbers show rates are even climbing for some at-risk mothers in Florida and across the nation. The maternal death rate doubled over 25 years, and the last 10 years saw a doubling of severe complications. In total, 32,000 women nearly die during pregnancy and another 52,000 experienced pregnancy-related emergencies. Of these, about 700 deaths occur each year.

Those studying the problem point to a number of causes. One issue is the growing number of complicating conditions, such as diabetes, older mothers, an increase in multiple births due to fertility treatments, an increase in the number of C-sections and a higher rate of heart disease. According to the Washington University School of Medicine vice chairman of obstetrics, multiple health conditions increases the risk of mortality.

Florida readers may have heard conflicting reports about the effect of medical malpractice litigation upon the healthcare system. Critics often claim that such litigation drives up the cost of healthcare, either by raising insurance rates or by defensive medicine -- an approach where a doctor orders unnecessary procedures to avoid being accused of negligent care. Patient safety advocates, on the other hand, typically insist that doctors and hospitals should be held accountable for their medical mistakes.

Perhaps in an effort to walk a middle line, some Florida lawmakers recently considered a proposal that would replace current medical malpractice laws with an alternative administrative process, called the Patients' Compensation System. Under that proposed system, a medical panel of experts would review injury claims. In the event the panel agreed that a patients' injury may have been avoidable, another office would determine the appropriate compensation to award, based on a compensation table.