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Obtaining Substance Abuse Records in Medical Malpractice Cases
If you are a plaintiff in a medical malpractice action, you might be seeking information on the issue of whether or not the physician who treated you had a substance abuse problem that might have contributed to his or her claimed negligence. If you are a physician who is the object of a medical malpractice action, you might be looking for information on whether the patient's injury was the result of his or her own drug problem. Whatever, the reason, it is not uncommon for one or both parties to try to obtain substance abuse records.
Radiology Malpractice
Radiology Malpractice
National Practitioner Data Bank
National Practitioner Data Bank
Loss of Parental Consortium
Loss of Parental Consortium
Recovery for the Death of a Fetus
Whether or not a parent may maintain a cause of action against a negligent healthcare provider for the death of a fetus generally depends on the laws of the jurisdiction in which the medical care was given. The issue is determined on the basis of the definition of the word "person" in the state's wrongful death statute. There is usually some line of demarcation in the statute - a critical stage of development after which an action may be pursued by parents for the death of that fetus. In most jurisdictions, a parent is entitled to maintain an action to recover for the wrongful death of a fetus after the fetus is developed enough to live apart from its mother. Only a few courts have upheld such an action regardless of the viability of the fetus.
