38. Confidentiality & Malpractice Flashcards
17 year old patient of yours comes in for a high school sports physical. While chatting about his summer job and course load for the new school year, he mentions that he is super excited to drive himself to school and football practice in his “new” hand-me down Toyota. During his ROS he states he had a seizure a few weeks ago. He has a history of seizures but has not had one in over 4 years. What is you next course of action?
A. Change his dose of anti-convulsive medication and speak to his mother
B. Send him to follow-up with his pediatric neurologist
C. Report him for risk of neurological impaired driving and get his license suspended
D. Do not report the incident because it will ruin his senior year popularity
E. Both choice A & D
F. Both choice B & C
SZ
Ans F Both choice B & C
It is an exception to confidentiality laws to report risks for neurological impaired driving, even though it may be committing ‘social suicide’ for the patient. And as a family practitioner you probably should not be messing around with his seizure meds, best refer to a neurologist.
Dr. Bob is a new 2018 SGU graduate. He is starting his residency in pediatrics. He passed his all board exam with average scores and landed himself a residency in a very busy, understaffed hospital in NYC. Due to the size of the patient load and the lack of nurses, the hospital is very disorganized. However, the majority of cases he sees his first month are very similar and he becomes rather overly confident in diagnosing the same aliments, over and over. How many predicting factors does Dr. Bob have that may lead to malpractice in the future?
A. 3
B. 4
C. 5
D. 6
SZ
Ans. B 4
Dr. Bob went to a foreign medication school and is an inexperienced new resident. He is at a disorganized hospital and has a large volume of similar patients. This gives him a false sense of confidence and may lead to bias.
The fact that he is a pediatrician (lower risk profession compared to surgery) and passed his board are factors that would protect against malpractice.
A 45 year old woman finds a lump in her left breast and goes to her GP regarding the lump. The GP does not find the lump concerning, and tells her he will only refer her for further screening if the lump gets larger. Over 6 months the lump enlarges, so the GP refers her for a mammogram. She is diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer with which her risk of death is 77%. Her baseline risk of death at the time of her first appointment regarding the lump was only 45%. She sues the GP for malpractice and $1 million. What is the % chance that the increased death risk came from the physician’s negligence? (MG)
A. 0% B. 32% C. 41.56% D. 58.44% E. 74.24% F. 77%
C. 41.56%
77-45 = 32
32/77 x 100% = 41.56%
Which of the following actions has been shown to be statistically significant in reducing the risk of malpractice suits? (MG)
A. Physician has more experience/more surgeries
B. Physician is older than 35 years old
C. Physician takes week long vacations every 4 months to reduce stress
D. Physician is funny
D. Physician is funny
Funny/laughing during the visit
