Maxwell J. Mehlman, J.D.
Sexual relationships with patients are problematic, not only because they may be unethical and may compromise patient care, but because they may lead to civil actions for damages, criminal actions, and disciplinary proceedings by state medical boards.(1) While concern focused originally on relationships between patients and psychiatrists, it is now generally recognized that the problem extends to non-psychiatric physicians as well.
from Cyberounds: Health Law and Bioethics
Maxwell J. Mehlman, J.D.
Educational Objectives
Upon completion of this Cyberounds(R), the participant should be able to:
* Discuss the paradox of the duty to refer
* Discuss how this paradox can confuse judges in malpractice cases
* Describe the correct rule of liability in failure-to-refer cases.
Given all the unkind jokes I hear about lawyers, I rarely choose to criticize the profession but I occasionally make an exception when judges espouse positions and reasoning in particular cases that are, shall we say, inexplicable. So I thought I'd share with you a case entitled Murphy v. Nordhagen, decided by an intermediate appellate court in Wisconsin (588 N.W.2d 96, 1998).
