Why you can’t phone the doc

Pediatric Insider:

…Defensive medicine costs you more than money. When was the last time you asked for telephone advice? Doctors are very, very leery of giving meaningful advice over the phone, because we can’t take the risk of this kind of conversation in front of a jury…

Everything we say and do is supposed to be documented, too – to defend ourselves. Every wonder why the doc spends so much time scribbling in the chart, instead of talking to you? It’s not because we like writing. It’s because every single day we’re reminded that the chart is our only defense.

Do you think this hasn’t increased health care costs? Do you think it hasn’t affected the relationships doctors have with patients?

April 12 roundup

  • Town counsel of Southborough, Mass. considering legal action against online critic [Evan Lips/MetroWest Daily News, Jacob Sullum/Reason, Aspen Daily News]
  • “Drowning in laughter”: pic of ill-advised safety sign [Turley]
  • Canadian lawyer accused of fabricating evidence of jury tampering [Times Colonist h/t @ErikMagraken]
  • One union (SEIU) wins $1.5 million verdict against another (NUHW) [Fox, Jottings]
  • “Anti-Law School Blogs Seek to Keep Others from Making ‘Same Mistake We Did'” [Legal Blog Watch, WSJ Law Blog] Instruction at University of Texas law school has room for improvement [Blackbook Legal] Chief Justice Roberts: law review articles aren’t particularly helpful for practitioners or judges [WSJ Law Blog]
  • “Illinois Hospital Loses Tax-Exempt Status for Not Being Charitable Enough” [NLJ]
  • “Cyber-bullying” proposal in Suffolk County, N.Y. could criminalize repeated insults [Volokh]
    “Where’s the State Action in Tort Awards Based on Speech?” [same]
  • George Will: administration “can imagine the world without the internal combustion engine but not without Chrysler” [WaPo/syndicated]

Judge sues paper over probe of anonymous online comments

Ohio: “A state court judge demands $50 million from the Cleveland Plain Dealer, claiming it wrongfully exposed her and her daughter as the source of online comments about the judge’s cases, including a criminal prosecution over the murder of 11 women. Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold and her daughter, Sydney, seek damages for fraud, defamation, tortious interference, breach of contract, and invasion of privacy. ” [Courthouse News, Solove/Concur Op] Earlier here.