AIMS: Admission to disability pension (DP) in Norway, like most other countries, requires a medical condition as the main cause of income reduction. Still, a widespread assumption is that much of the recruitment to the programme is rather due to non-medical, mainly labour market factors. In this article, we study ...

To assess the accuracy of diagnoses made by referrers to a chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) service. Retrospective service evaluation surveys of both rejected referral letters and medical case-notes after full clinical assessment. A specialist CFS clinic in London, UK. In the first survey, we assessed rejected referral letters between March ...

We have measured the cross section for production of the medically interesting isotope (34m)Cl, along with (38)Cl and (41)Ar, using deuteron bombardments of (36)Ar and (40)Ar below 8.4MeV. ALICE/ASH analytical codes were employed to determine the shape of nuclear excitation functions, and experiments were performed using the University of Wisconsin ...

The medical radioisotope (201)Tl is produced by a cyclotron through the (203)Tl(p, 3n)(201)Pb reaction in the nuclear medicine research group of Agricultural, Medical and Industrial Research Schools in Iran. The produced (201)Pb decays to (201)Tl by electron capture. One of the most important problems that may occur is malfunction of ...

INTRODUCTION: Varenicline has recently been added to the market as a new drug for smoking cessation. The aim of the current study was to assess whether varenicline substituted for, or added to, the use of other smoking cessation medications. METHODS: We used data from 2,595 smokers taking part in monthly ...

Apart from airway inflammation, airway remodeling is one of the main pathological features of asthma. However, it remains unclear when airway remodeling starts in children and whether it could be a potential therapeutic target in asthma. We have reviewed the recent literature regarding structural changes after airway remodeling, the relationship ...

ABSTRACT Background. Emergency medical services (EMS) systems are used by the public for a range of medically related problems. Objective. To understand and analyze the patterns of EMS utilization and trends over time in a large urban EMS system so that we may better direct efforts toward improving those services. ...

At a time when the role of the laboratory in clinical medicine and in medical research was evolving rapidly, a young Chinese graduate of the Hong Kong College of Medicine and the University of Edinburgh undertook a period of intensive training at the laboratory of the Royal College of Physicians ...

PURPOSE: The academic workplace has seen dramatic changes in recent decades, including growing faculty workloads, an increasingly demographically diverse faculty population, and changing expectations about workplace climate. Despite these significant changes, a typical medical faculty's career trajectory is often still quite linear and follows decades-old tenure policies. The authors describe ...

Background: Following high-profile device failures, the Heart Rhythm Society emphasized the need for postmarketing surveillance by recommending that physicians return all explanted devices to the manufacturer for analysis. Methods: We conducted a national survey of electrophysiologists (EPs) regarding recovery for analysis of explanted pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators (devices), and ...

There are many forms of technology used in medical education, only some of which are directly focused on the learning process. After more than a decade of disruptive change around e-learning we may be moving into a period of consolidation. This paper explores the evidence for such a change and ...

Cochliomyia macellaria (Diptera: Calliphoridae), known as the secondary screwworm, occurs in the Americas and has medical-veterinary and forensic importance. This study aimed to describe the seasonal fluctuation of this species in the Pantanal region, Central-Western Brazil. From December 2004 to November 2007 fly catches using four windoriented traps baited with ...

The aim was to describe how a multidisciplinary medical assessment changed the distribution of long-term sickness absentees between three different forms of social security support during a period of eleven years. The study group (n = 1002) consisted of persons on long-term sickness absence who were referred to a multidisciplinary ...

Traumatic brain injury has received significant attention in recent years. Advances in diagnosis and management have resulted in opportunities to improve patient outcomes; however, controversies in diagnosis and management have resulted in increased interactions between the medical and legal communities. This article highlights some of the areas of controversy in ...

Background In most European countries the attitudes regarding the acceptability of active euthanasia have clearly changed in the population since World War II. Therefore, it is interesting to know which trends in attitudes prevail among the physicians of the future. Methods The present study analyses trends in the attitudes towards ...

Night-shift work causes mental stress and lifestyle changes, and is recognized as a risk of cardiovascular diseases associated with impaired endothelial function. Aromatherapy is becoming popular as a complementary therapy that is beneficial for mental relaxation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of aromatherapy on the ...

The occurrence of AF increases sharply with age. The aim of this study was to explore and compare prevalent co-morbidity and self-estimated health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in subjects with AF versus subjects with sinus rhythm or pacemaker in 85 years old subjects. We analyzed data from a population of ...

In April 2010, the Missouri State Medical Association (MSMA) sponsored the Second Annual Medical Student Lobby Day to increase student understanding of the relationship between state politics and medicine, further MSMA policy positions, remove barriers to political action, and improve future Lobby Day events. A detailed description is provided, which ...

Medical practice occurs within a legal and regulatory context. This article covers several of the legal issues that frequently arise in the general medical setting. While this article provides an overview of approaches to informed consent, boundary issues, and malpractice claims, it is critical for clinicians to be familiar with ...

We address models that can explain why expert patients (obstetricians, midwives and doctors) are treated better than non-experts (mainly non-medical training). Models of statistical discrimination show that benevolent doctors treat expert patients better, since experts are better at communicating with the doctor. Agency theory suggests that doctors have an incentive ...

Abstract: The opinion expressed by an expert witness in any branch of technical science depends for its effect on, among other things, his qualifications, skill and experience in that science. The function of the expert is not to present ready-made conclusions but to provide the tribunal of fact with material ...

To determine the opinions of medical professionals, legal professionals, and patients regarding the withdrawal of implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) and pacemaker therapy at the end of life. A survey regarding 5 cases that focused on withdrawal of ICD or pacemaker therapy at the end of life was constructed and sent to ...

This article critically analyses the recent High Court decision in Tabet v Gett (2010) 84 ALJR 292; [2010] HCA 12 which considered whether a person should be able to obtain compensation on the basis of a loss of a chance of a better medical outcome. The appellant argued that the ...

The central purpose of this paper is to address the tension between legal and medical discourses within the coronial system. Medical expertise, based largely upon internal autopsy, becomes positioned as providing the more important information, rather than the legal model which focuses on evidence gathering at the scene. This paper ...

Medical identity theft is a growing problem in America. The federal government has passed laws to help "prevent" identity theft. However, several powerful medical associations are fighting the legislation. Americans need to know what is happening with these laws and why these laws are important to protect providers from lawsuits ...

Judaism has many traditions, customs, rules, and laws, which relate to the proper and ethical disposition of a decedent when a Medical Examiner/Coroner is involved. In almost all United States jurisdictions, statutes mandate the need to determine the cause and manner of death (Coroners' Act PA Pl. 323, num. 130, ...

Guidance is an issue of growing importance for physicians responsible for medical experts working in public health services and on medical advisory boards. The challenge of ethics on the one hand and the constraints of economy on the other hand have considerable impact on the demands for quantity as well ...

The courts' use of the Bolam test has been criticized for giving the medical profession deferential treatment and making it easier to defend a minority opinion. This article asks whether the shift to the Bolitho principle has gone too far or not far enough.

The Medical Code of Deontology is a legal text including the physician's duties towards his patients, colleagues, auxiliaries and the community. Considering the scientific, legal and social changes, the deontology code should be revised periodically. The first Tunisian Medical Code of Deontology (TMCD) was promulgated in 1973 and abrogated in ...

When medical practitioners act as expert witnesses for the plaintiff in contested illness lawsuits, they can be stigmatized by their professional community. Drawing on ethnographic research surrounding the condition multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS) in Australia, this article focuses on: how plaintiff experts specialize; their rationale for deviance from the professional ...

Shortly after the start of the new millennium, the Howard Federal Government in Australia was faced with a so-called "crisis" in medical indemnity insurance which may, in fact, have been due to corporate mismanagement. After a four-person review by a committee chaired by Justice Ipp (who currently serves as a ...

The current article surveys an assortment of legal issues identified by the editors that relate to the malpractice sphere. However, this represents only a small part of the total legal medicine picture. The interaction of law and medical care in the United States today encompasses a broad array of specific ...

Already in ancient times did medical liability occupy mankind. Various civilizations did give their own interpretation on the subject and proposed solutions. Original writings are rare and articles concerning ancient medical liability equally are hard to find. The only relatively trustworthy sources are of legal nature and find their origin ...

The danger of neck compression without restriction of the arterial flow remains unresolved in forensic medicine. There is an ongoing debate concerning life endangerment due to the cardioinhibitory reflex. The aim of this study was to determine what forensic medical experts believe and how they deal with this reflex. An ...

The crime of rape is a major problem in India, evident from the reports in the press as well as official statistics. The accused has often gone free, because the victim did not file a complaint, or because of poor evidence gathering and well as lacunae in the law. This ...

Assessment of medical fitness to drive can be a sensitive and difficult task, particularly when it involves a condition such as epilepsy, where impairment is intermittent. The patient, their doctor and the driver licensing authority (DLA) each have responsibilities, both to the patient and to the wider community of road ...

In the latter half of the 20th century, Western medicine moved death from the home to the hospital. As a result, the process of dying seems to have lost its spiritual dimension, and become a matter of prolonging material life by means of medical technology. The novel quandaries that arose ...

Physicians who sponsor 401(k) plans for their employees must protect themselves from allegations of fiduciary breach related to investment losses or fund mismanagement. Selecting an independent fiduciary to assume legal responsibility for selecting, monitoring, and replacing plan investment options provides support, transparency, and protection from legal exposure. Physicians who select ...

Variation in opinions of medical experts is a problem for both the legal and medical profession. This is particularly relevant in breast imaging. Breast-Screen Queensland and New South Wales have developed a review protocol to assess 'reasonableness' of radiological opinions. It is hoped that the protocol will be acceptable to ...

Medical responsibility in the United Arab Emirates was formerly defined and governed according to Law 7 of 1975 for the practice of medical professions, which had been a part of civil law. The passing of Law 10 of 2008, namely the "Law on Medical Responsibility in UAE", enacted on 16th ...

The paper explores the relationship between clinical guidelines and medical liability. In order to ascertain the standard of care required for example in ear surgery, courts rely on expert opinions and on existing clinical guidelines from medical societies. They assume that clinical guidelines express the reasonable standard of care that, ...

This column concisely reviews: significant legal developments concerning medical futility and assisted suicide; three late-2009, early 2010 court cases involving neonatal medical futility disputes; and a number of cases involving the criminal enforcement of assisted suicide laws, as well as recent court cases and legislation aimed to legalize assisted suicide.

The Texas Medical Association and the Texas Orthopaedic Association have prevailed in their lengthy legal battle with podiatrists over the definition of the foot. In August, the Texas Supreme Court denied the podiatrists' motion for rehearing of its earlier decision not to review an appellate court's rejection of the podiatry board's ...

Professional secrecy of doctors became an issue of considerable medico-legal and political debate in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in both Germany and England, although the legal preconditions for this debate were quite different in the two countries. While in Germany medical confidentiality was a legal obligation and ...

This paper provides a reflective analysis of the nature of normative critiques of law generally, and within medical law specifically. It first seeks to establish the context within which critical analysis of law and legal measures takes place, and develops an argument that critiques should focus on political norms. Entailed ...

Frequent headache is defined as headaches ≥ 15 days/month and daily headache operationally as headaches ≥ 5 days/week. In this article, we review the outcome of frequent/ daily headache in the general population and in medical practice. In the general population, within 1 year fewer than half of those with ...

This paper describes how a Foundation Trust was able to meet emergency access targets. The Acute Medical Unit (AMU) was expanded from 29 to 81 beds and patients with expected length of stay (LOS( of less than 5 days were managed by the acute medical team only. Acute physicians provided ...

Managing a bustling medical practice isn't easy. On top of treating patients, physicians have to be well versed in state and federal laws and regulations that govern employment. The Texas Medical Association can help physicians keep up with the legal implications inherent in overseeing employees.

A 'Medical Expert' witness is one who has been accepted by the court as having special knowledge of the subject about which they are testifying and as a result is allowed to give evidence of their medical opinion. In contrast, ordinary witnesses can only give evidence regarding facts that they ...

Clinical guidelines are statements that have been systematically developed and which aim to assist clinicians in making decisions about treatment for specific conditions. They are linked to evidence and are meant to facilitate good medical practice. A key issue that follows is how lawyers and the courts might use such ...