Tidbits
Pitfalls of Withdrawing From A Physician-Patient Relationship
December 2008
When handling difficult patients, such as patients who repeatedly miss scheduled appointments, refuse to comply with treatment advice, or fail to make required bill payments, it may become necessary for the physician to terminate the physician-patient relationship. If the physician has addressed with the patient the issues that are becoming detrimental to the physician-patient relationship and the physician decides that withdrawing from the patient’s case is necessary, a physician should proceed carefully to avoid liability for abandoning the patient.
Choosing and Protecting Your Business Name And Trademark
November 2008
Trademarks and service marks are important aspects of business operations. A trademark or service mark is a word, symbol, phrase or design that the public associates with the source of certain goods or services, such as the Nike swoosh symbol, or the name AT&T. The term “trademark” generally refers to a mark identifying the source of goods while the term “service mark” refers to the source of services.
Kansas Law Has Abolished Vicarious Liability for Health Care Providers
August 2008
Three basic elements are required to prove negligence in any lawsuit, whether the claim is medical malpractice or some other tort. First, the party who is alleged to be negligent must have a duty to prevent the harm about which the injured person complains. Second, the negligent party must breach that duty. And third, the breach of the duty must have caused the injured party’s damages. In the medical malpractice context, for example, a physician is negligent if the applicable standard of care requires her to perform a procedure a certain way, she fails to do so, and the patient is injured because of her failure.
