Law & Politics | By April 13, 2008 | By JC, MDcloseJC, MD Name: J C
Site: http://brainblogger.com
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About: Dr. JC is a medical doctor who has a passion for health promotion and education. | 5 Comments

Medicine and the Law - Part 1: Contract and Consent

I’ve decided to go ahead and post a series on Medicine and the Law. One of the things I hear about so often from both sides of the patient-physician relationship is the fear and threat of legal action. Typically physicians are paranoid of being sued. They practice defensive medicine and go out of their way to write copious notes, dictate exhaustive patient summaries and operative reports. For the practicing physician, all the documentation, paperwork, and reporting is simply exhausting. Sometimes all of the documentation takes up way more time and energy than the actual exam or procedure. It is a sad state of affairs when 90% of the time allocated to a patient is dedicated to documentation rather than with actual time with the patient. Read more →