This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.
In this issue of Neurology, Glick reviews malpractice claims against neurologists or on behalf of patients with neurologic conditions made over a 5- and 11-year period against Massachusetts physicians, and suggests that legal claims data may be a valuable source of information to guide neurologic education.1 This article speaks to neurologists in clinical practice, those in health care administration, and those who perform health services research, by analyzing information that has previously received little attention.
This information will be of interest to neurologists at a purely descriptive level, as it highlights areas of legal vulnerability. For example, neurologists will be interested to know that in approximately two thirds of the 181 cases reviewed, the event leading to the claim occurred in acute care situations, and that patients with cerebrovascular disorders or disorders of the spinal cord and nerve roots were most often involved. In addition, a third of the claims was for failure to diagnose a disease (i.e., nonfeasance), whereas another third was for mistreatment or for a physician doing the wrong thing (i.e., misfeasance). These data are similar to another published report, where errors in the clinical diagnosis of “brain diseases” or tumors of the spinal cord were the most common claims made against neurologists in northern Germany over an 18-year period.2
Glick proposes that these data can also educate physicians about medical …
AAN Members
We have changed the login procedure to improve access between AAN.com and the Neurology journals. If you are experiencing issues, please log out of AAN.com and clear history and cookies. (For instructions by browser, please click the instruction pages below). After clearing, choose preferred Journal and select login for AAN Members. You will be redirected to a login page where you can log in with your AAN ID number and password. When you are returned to the Journal, your name should appear at the top right of the page.
AAN Non-Member Subscribers
Purchase access
Letters: Rapid online correspondence
- Reply to Michael I. Weintraub
- Lawyers, litigation, and liability: Can they make patients safer?
REQUIREMENTS
You must ensure that your Disclosures have been updated within the previous six months. Please go to our Submission Site to add or update your Disclosure information.
Your co-authors must send a completed Publishing Agreement Form to Neurology Staff (not necessary for the lead/corresponding author as the form below will suffice) before you upload your comment.
If you are responding to a comment that was written about an article you originally authored:
You (and co-authors) do not need to fill out forms or check disclosures as author forms are still valid
and apply to letter.
Submission specifications:
- Submissions must be < 200 words with < 5 references. Reference 1 must be the article on which you are commenting.
- Submissions should not have more than 5 authors. (Exception: original author replies can include all original authors of the article)
- Submit only on articles published within 6 months of issue date.
- Do not be redundant. Read any comments already posted on the article prior to submission.
- Submitted comments are subject to editing and editor review prior to posting.
You May Also be Interested in
Differences in Age-related Retinal and Cortical Atrophy Rates in Multiple Sclerosis
Prof. Massimo Filippi and Dr. Paolo Preziosa