In reports of industry-funded studies that compared the ocular hypotensive efficacy of topical prostaglandins, conclusions in the article abstracts differed from the results of the main outcome measure 62 percent of the time.
Timothy K. Mackey, MAS and Bryan A. Liang, MD, JD, PhD
Studies show that clinical practice guidelines, used by an accused physician or by patients alleging a breach of standard care, have an impact on case outcomes.
While it is important to make parents of severely neurologically damaged newborns aware of the difficulty in predicting their child’s survival chances or future disabilities, it is also crucial to inform them of the statistical evidence about outcomes for their child’s condition.
Physicians have a professional obligation and, in many states, a legal duty to report drivers whose functional or cognitive impairments may pose a safety hazard.
Nonlegal, judicial, and statutory courses of action are available to patient surrogates and physicians who cannot agree on withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment.
Physicians are obligated in many jurisdictions to perform life-sustaining treatments on premature infants with serious developmental or physical impairments, even if it goes against the parents' wishes.