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Health Law
Our health team publishes regular health law alerts which summarise the latest cases facing the health industry and the lessons to be learned from each.
Changes ahead for medical device regulation?
3 April 2012
Thanks to the well publicised issues with the De Puy Orthopaedics hip replacement and the breast implants manufactured by Poly Implant Prosthese (PIP), prosthetic medical devices have had a much higher profile in recent months than their manufacturers would prefer. Read more
Euthanasia - the unresolved issue
3 April 2012
In February 2012, a Queensland Court convicted Mr Merin Nielsen of aiding the suicide of 76 year old, Mr Frank Ward. Mr Nielsen procured the drug Nembutal (a barbiturate anaesthetic that is frequently used in euthanasia) in Mexico and provided it to Mr Ward. On 20 June 2009, Mr Ward died after taking the Nembutal. Read more
Health Practitioners and the regulation of sexual misconduct in the noughties and beyond......
3 April 2012
The annual report of the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency for 2010/11 year includes detailed national data in relation to notifications about the conduct and performance of registered health practitioners. One of the key changes which has come about with the national scheme regulating health professionals is the requirement that there be mandatory notification of certain conduct. Such conduct includes, among other matters, sexual misconduct in connection with the practice of the profession. Read more
Walking The Tightrope – mental illness; patient rights and doctor’s liability
9 February 2012
The treatment of mentally ill patients can raise difficult issues for medical practitioners, particularly where a patient refuses treatment, even more so where such refusal takes place in an emergency department or emergency setting. Read more
Wrongful birth may give rise to damages for life
9 February 2012
A claim for wrongful birth brought by the parents of Keeden Waller is currently before the New South Wales Supreme Court. Wrongful birth cases include claims made by the parents of a child with a congenital disorder alleging that their doctor failed to adequately warn them of the risk of conceiving a child with a serious genetic disorder or congenital abnormality.Read more
In the United States... February
9 February 2012
There are a number of opportunities and risks which social media creates for health care organisations and professionals. This does mean additional care must be taken when publishing or communicating online. The flip side is also true. Patients should be careful about what they say about their health care providers.Read more
Who said insurance isn’t an emotional purchase?
13 December 2011
Psychologist and Nobel prize winning economist Daniel Kahneman was recently interviewed in TIME Magazine. Mr Kahneman, the author of Thinking Fast And Slow, talks of people being blind to their own blindness.
“We’re generally overconfid...Read more
In the United States . . .December
13 December 2011
Land of the free and seriously high damages awards!
On 20 October 2011 Kanawha Circuit Judge Paul Zakaib Junior affirmed a jury verdict in favour of Thomas Douglas, and awarded Mr Douglas $90.5million following the death of his mother when resident ...Read more
Limitation Periods: Whose side is time on?
13 December 2011
On 1 April 2009 an article in the Cairns Post caught the attention of 3 women who had undergone plastic surgery procedures in 2004, 2005 and 2006 with a Cairns surgeon. For each of the women, the article was said to be the catalyst for making enquirie...Read more
Electronic Health Records – Handle with extreme care
13 December 2011
No matter which side of politics you support, and to the many in the “neither” camp, it is fair to say that the Federal government has had some unfortunate outcomes with the delivery and implementation of, what many see to have been, meritorious ...Read more
Defective Hip Replacements – Implications for Doctors and Hospitals
13 December 2011
The recall of DePuy metal on metal hip replacements (manufactured by Johnson & Johnson Medical and implanted in approximately 5,500 Australian patients) has been widely publicised. The devices have been found to fail at a much higher rate than nor...Read more
State of Queensland v Allen – so, what exactly is a 'medical report'?
9 November 2011
On 4 November 2011 the Queensland Court of Appeal delivered its decision in the much awaited case of State of Queensland v Allen1.
Ethan Allen was aged 16 months when he suffered severe brain damage following a medical procedure at the Prince Charle...Read more
Social Media, not Social Medicine
9 November 2011
Only people beyond a certain vintage would understand the connection between a cassette tape and a pencil. And I suspect that those same people are the target audience for those saying “get with the times” and “get on Facebook or Twitter” ...Read more
Sullivan Nicolaides v Papa [2011] QCA 257 – more than just monitoring required
9 November 2011
A recent decision of the Queensland Court of Appeal confirms that sometimes a pathology service needs to do more than just provide accurate test results.
Mrs Papa had been the recipient of an artificial mitral valve. She required lifelong anti-coag...Read more
The claimant's specialist report – your first line of defence
9 November 2011
It might not feel like it for your average medical practitioner, but medical negligence claims are not always easy for claimants to establish at the pre-litigation stage. In Queensland the Personal Injuries Proceedings Act (PIPA) makes a claimant clea...Read more
The Bolam Principle - not the be all and end all
9 November 2011
The Bolam principle for medical negligence cases is codified in section 22 of the Civil Liability Act 2003 (Qld) as well as other State Civil Liability Acts. It provides that a professional does not breach their duty for the performance of professiona...Read more
In the United States… November
9 November 2011
The most high profile medical negligence case on the global stage has concluded with the criminal trial of Dr Conrad Murray. Dr Murray was found guilty of the involuntary manslaughter of Michael Jackson. Mr Jackson died of “acute propofol intox...Read more
Now that's a Health Care System
9 November 2011
Queensland. Beautiful one day. The Courier Mail running a story on the problems with our public health care system the next. Clearly Queensland is not alone when it comes to health care controversy, with similar problems existing to varying degrees ...Read more
Health Law Newsletter April 2011
21 April 2011
To Hold or To Fold?
Disclosure of documents in health care claims.
Late last year the Queensland Supreme Court gave a wide interpretation to a persons obligation to disclose information and documentation under section 9A(8) of the Personal Injuri...Read more
Courts Must Beware When Medical Opinions Are Split
2 December 2010
Hawkesbury District Health Service Limited & Anor v Patricia Chaker [2010] NSWCA 320 (25 November 2010)
The Facts
In early 2003, Patricia Chaker was having problems with varicose veins in both legs. On 3 February 2003, she saw Dr Elizabeth Tomp...Read more
Slaveski & Ors v Austin Health [2010] VSC 493
9 November 2010
The Facts
The Victorian Supreme Court has confirmed its inherent jurisdiction to act to protect the life and welfare of an unconscious person. The Court has the duty and power to protect the rights of an unconscious person to receive appropriate medic...Read more
Wallace v Ramsay Health Care Ltd [2010] NSWSC 518
29 July 2010
A recent decision of the New South Wales Supreme Court provides some guidance on the extent to which a medical practitioner ought to provide specific and detailed warnings to a patient prior to treatment or surgery.
Facts
Dr Kam, the second defen...Read more
The High Court decision in Tabet v Gett
19 July 2010
A lost chance for plaintiffs but a save for professional indemnity insurers
Tabet v Gett [2010] HCA 12
The Facts
Reema Tabet was six when she suffered from persistent headaches and vomiting in late December 1990. She was first admitted to the Ro...Read more
Granting a Patient's wish to die - Withdrawal Of Medical Treatment
23 June 2010
The proceedings were brought by Brightwater Care Group (Inc.), a Perth business providing residential care and rehabilitation for persons with disabilities (Brightwater). Mr Rossiter, 49, was an active bushwalker,Read more
G, PA and C, P v Down
23 June 2010
Failure by medical practitioners to provide patients with information on risks based on up to date published medical literature AND to take into account the circumstances of each patient and their ability to comprehend such information exposes a medical practitioner to a risk of malpractice claims and damage to reputation.Read more
Brown v Simpson
23 June 2010
The plaintiff underwent surgery for bowel cancer on 14 March 2003 at Gosford District Hospital. The surgery was performed by the first defendant, Dr Simpson. The second defendant,Read more
Hegarty v Queensland Ambulance Service
23 June 2010
Hegarty v Queensland Ambulance Service [2007] QCA 366
The Facts
The plaintiff served as an ambulance officer with the defendant for 15 years. He ceased employment in 1999, suffering from post traumatic stress disorder and an obsessive compulsive diso...Read more
South Eastern Sydney Area Health Service & Anor v King
23 June 2010
The protocol provided specifically for the amount of radiotherapy to be administered, and the dosage and frequency of the two forms of chemotherapy.Read more