Legal Liability Associated With rtPA Administration and Surrogate Decision Makers.

Stroke is one of the most common conditions neurologists treat in emergency situations. This article examines the issues of surrogate decision makers and the physician's potential legal liability in the context of the administration or nonadministration of recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rtPA) in a common emergency department scenario.

Industry Payment to Vascular Neurologists: A 6-Year Analysis of the Open Payments Program From 2013 Through 2018.

Background and Purpose- Industry payments to physicians raise concerns regarding conflicts of interest that could impact patient care. We explored nonresearch and nonownership payments from industry to vascular neurologists to identify trends in compensation. Methods- Using Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology data, we explored financial relationships between industry and US vascular neurologists from 2013 to 2018. We analyzed payment characteristics, including payment categories, payment distribution among physicians, regional trends, and biomedical manufacturers. Furthermore, we analyzed the top 1% (by compensation) of vascular neurologists with detailed payment categories, their position, and their contribution to stroke guidelines. Results- The number of board certified vascular neurologist increased from 1169 in 2013 to 1746 in 2018. The total payments to vascular neurologist increased from $99 749 in 2013 to $1 032 302 in 2018. During the study period, 16% to 17% of vascular neurologists received industry payments. Total payments from industry and mean physician payments increased yearly over this period, with consulting fee (31.1%) and compensation for services other than consulting (30.7%) being the highest paid categories. The top 10 manufacturers made the majority of the payments, and the top 10 products changed from drug or biological products to devices. Physicians from south region of the United States received the highest total payment (38.72%), which steadily increased. Payments to top 1% vascular neurologists increased from 64% to 79% over the period as payments became less evenly distributed. Among the top 1%, 42% specialized in neuro intervention, 11% contributed to American Heart Association/American Stroke Association guidelines, and around 75% were key leaders in the field. Conclusions- A small proportion of US vascular neurologists consistently received the majority of industry payments, the value of which grew over the study period. Only 11% of the top 1% receiving industry payments have authored American Heart Association/American Stroke Association guidelines, but ≈75% seem to be key leaders in the field. Whether this influences clinical practice and behavior requires further investigation.

The patient with epilepsy and medicolegal aspects: a view for the neurologist.

Patients with epilepsy face innumerable obstacles in daily life, related to work, permission to drive and interpersonal relationships, which require medical guidance. This paper reports a literature review based on scientific articles and civil and traffic system, as a way to resolve doubts about medical obligations in the patient's permission to drive and work. An employment agreement requires the contractor to guarantee safety conditions as well as requiring the patient, at the pre-employment medical examination, to let the physician know previous medical conditions, including epilepsy. More than 90% of patients with epilepsy omit this information during the application assessment, thus being subject to imputation of ideological falsehood crime as disposied on article 299 of Brazilian Penal Code. Medical confidentiality breaches may only occur in specific situations. In Brazil, the authorization and driver's license renewal is governed by the Brazilian Traffic Code (Federal Law n° 9503/1997). For patient evaluations, two groups are considered: those on antiepileptic medication and those on medication withdrawal. A favorable report from the attending physician is also required, in both categories. Seizures that occur exclusively during sleep, and focal aware events or prolonged aura are not differentiated from other seizure types disposed in the traffic law. It is the responsibility of the attending physician to analyze each patient individually to resolve conflicts between public safety and the individual patient's independence. A frank and honest doctor-patient relationship is essential for the patient to understand the public and individual consequences of epileptic seizures and to feel comfortable seeking medical help.

The patient with epilepsy and medicolegal aspects: a view for the neurologist / O paciente com epilepsia e aspectos legais em saúde: uma visão para o Neurologista

ABSTRACT Patients with epilepsy face innumerable obstacles in daily life, related to work, permission to drive and interpersonal relationships, which require medical guidance. This paper reports a literature review based on scientific articles and civil and traffic system, as a way to resolve doubts about medical obligations in the patient's permission to drive and work. An employment agreement requires the contractor to guarantee safety conditions as well as requiring the patient, at the pre-employment medical examination, to let the physician know previous medical conditions, including epilepsy. More than 90% of patients with epilepsy omit this information during the application assessment, thus being subject to imputation of ideological falsehood crime as disposied on article 299 of Brazilian Penal Code. Medical confidentiality breaches may only occur in specific situations. In Brazil, the authorization and driver's license renewal is governed by the Brazilian Traffic Code (Federal Law n° 9503/1997). For patient evaluations, two groups are considered: those on antiepileptic medication and those on medication withdrawal. A favorable report from the attending physician is also required, in both categories. Seizures that occur exclusively during sleep, and focal aware events or prolonged aura are not differentiated from other seizure types disposed in the traffic law. It is the responsibility of the attending physician to analyze each patient individually to resolve conflicts between public safety and the individual patient's independence. A frank and honest doctor-patient relationship is essential for the patient to understand the public and individual consequences of epileptic seizures and to feel comfortable seeking medical help.

RESUMO O paciente com epilepsia enfrenta inúmeros impasses na vida diária, relacionados à autorização para dirigir e relações interpessoais, os quais requerem orientação médica. Este artigo apresenta revisão bibliográfica baseada em artigos científicos e nas legislações cível e de trânsito brasileiras, como forma de solucionar dúvidas que envolvam obrigações médicas na permissão do paciente para dirigir e trabalhar. A admissão do trabalhador exige que o contratante garanta condições de segurança, além da necessidade do paciente, no exame de admissão, informar ao médico as condições médicas prévias, inclusive a epilepsia. Mais de 90% dos pacientes com epilepsia omitem essas informações na avaliação de aptidão, podendo consequentemente, estarem sujeitos à imputação de crime de falsidade ideológica (artigo 299 do Código Penal brasileiro). A violação do sigilo médico pode ocorrer apenas em situações específicas. No Brasil, a autorização e a renovação da carteira de habilitação são regidas pelo Código de Trânsito (Lei Federal n° 9503/1997). Para avaliação dos pacientes, dois grupos são considerados: aqueles em uso de medicação antiepiléptica e aqueles em retirada de medicação. É também necessária a opinião favorável do médico assistente, em ambas as categorias. As convulsões que ocorrem exclusivamente durante o sono, eventos focais perceptivos ou com aura prolongada não são diferenciadas de outros tipos de crises no Código de Trânsito Brasileiro. É responsabilidade do médico assistente analisar cada caso para resolver conflitos entre segurança pública e independência do paciente. Um relacionamento médico-paciente franco e honesto é essencial para que o paciente entenda as consequências individuais e coletivas das crises epilépticas e se sinta à vontade para procurar ajuda médica.

Driving and Epilepsy: Ethical, Legal, and Health Care Policy Challenges.

Although the principle of autonomy allows patients to refuse interventions their physicians recommend, patients are not free to ignore legally mandated restrictions on driving, and physicians are ethically justified in constraining their patients' driving rights in compliance with state law. Furthermore, the standard of care for treatment of patients with epilepsy includes counseling about lifestyle modifications that promote patient safety and compliance with the law. Neurologists should not only counsel their patients with epilepsy about legally mandated driving restrictions but also document this counseling in the medical record. Failure to counsel and to document may result in legal liability if patients experience seizures while driving and injure either themselves or third parties. The neurologist's duty of care may be limited to the patient in some jurisdictions but may be extended to injured third parties in others. Furthermore, a patient's own contributory negligence may limit or completely foreclose recovery against the physician to varying degrees, depending on the state in which the injury occurred.

UK consensus on pregnancy in multiple sclerosis: 'Association of British Neurologists' guidelines.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is more common in women than men and is most commonly diagnosed in early adulthood; thus, many patients will not have completed their families at the time of diagnosis. There is increasing awareness of the importance of early treatment in preventing long-term disability in MS. Delaying treatment until women with MS have completed their families can lead to the development of irreversible disability in at least some cases. It is therefore important to discuss family planning and pregnancy proactively. However, to date there is limited evidence to inform such discussions. We set out to develop consensus guidelines for the treatment of MS in pregnancy to encourage and facilitate discussions in this important area. The guidelines draw on available evidence from drug-specific pregnancy registers and published literature and have been scored by a panel of experts from a variety of disciplines using modified Delphi criteria. They cover prepregnancy counselling, management during pregnancy, delivery and anaesthetic options, postpartum advice and specific advice regarding currently licensed disease-modifying drugs. As the complexity and range of available disease-modifying drugs increase, further data gathering via a UK-wide MS pregnancy register is recommended.

Legal Implications of Physician Investment and Ownership in Health Care Enterprises.

This article presents a case in which a neurology group practice is considering investing in an imaging center that is owned by nonphysician investors with the aim of referring patients to this imaging center. The article reviews some important legal pitfalls in federal law that physicians must be aware of when considering such an investment and focuses on the general outlines of and exceptions to the Stark Law and the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute.