Public Health Law Map - Beta 5 - Medical and Public Health Law Site

diagnoses other than those that would be appropriate to his or her special field of
practice.
One case that settled prior to trial involved a woman in her mid-50s who presented
to her physician with abdominal pain. Initial evaluation did not uncover an
explanation, and she eventually sought care at a hospital emergency room. The
emergency room physician did a general evaluation and wrote a differential
diagnosis that included abdominal aortic aneurysm. She was admitted to the
hospital under the care of a gynecologist and given an ultrasound and a pelvic
examination. A mass was noted in her abdomen, and the pelvic examination
discovered cervical cancer. She was then transferred to the regional cancer center
for definitive treatment. Once in the cancer center on the gynecology service, she
was treated for the cancer.
Over the next couple of weeks, she continued to complain of pain that was
inappropriate for the extent of her cancer. Her treating physicians assumed that this
pain was partially psychogenic, and they had her evaluated by a psychiatrist. The
pain suddenly became much worse, and she was given a tranquilizer for anxiety.
When she was finally examined three hours later, there was no blood supply to her
legs; she had clotted off an abdominal aortic aneurysm. This diagnosis had been
hinted at early in her evaluation, but once she was on a subspecialty gynecology
cancer service, all diagnostic considerations were limited to gynecologic cancer and
its complications.
6. Medical Malpractice Litigation References
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American Psychiatric Association resource document on peer review of expert
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Annas GJ. Medicine, death, and the criminal law. N Engl J Med. 1995;333:527–530.
Beckman HB, Markakis KM, Suchman AL, Frankel RM. The doctor–patient
relationship and malpractice: lessons from plaintiff depositions. Arch Intern Med.
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Berlin L. On being an expert witness. AJR. 1997;168:607–610.
Bertin JE, Henifin MS. Science, law, and the search for truth in the courtroom:
lessons from Daubert v. Merrell Dow. J Law Med Ethics. 1994;22:6–20.
Black B. Subpoenas and science—when lawyers force their way into the laboratory.
N Engl J Med. 1997;336:725–727.
Black E. What to expect at your deposition: a guide for physicians and health care
professionals. Pa Med. 1998;101:24.
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