
MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Nearly half of physicians surveyed believe that they’re delivery too much care to their patients, often over concerns that they might be sued for malpractice, according to a poll published in the latest Archives of Internal Medicine.
Of 627 doctors, 42 percent said their patients were getting too many tests and taking too many drugs. Only 6 percent their patients were getting too little care.
More than three-quarters of physicians thought they could be sued for failing to order a test, and only 21 percent though they could be sued for ordering a test that wasn’t needed, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Health care reform may head to the highest court
President Barack Obama’s health care reform
may be on its way to the Supreme Court to debate the constitutionality of the individual insurance mandate, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
FDA chemist charged with insider trading
FDA chemist Cheng Yi Liang was slapped with charges of insider trading amounting to $3.7 million, Law360.com reported.
Doctors joking about their patients may seem wrong, but it’s actually helping
Laughing about the painful and often cruel things that are seen in hospitals may seem crude and inappropriate, but when done out of the view of patients and their family members it may serve as a tool for coping with difficult truths and bonding among hospital staff, researchers at the Hastings Center said in a press release.