Duty to Warn in the Emergency Department: Three Medical Legal Cases That Illustrate Providers' Broad Risk and Liability.

Rosemary Pfaff,Ross Berkeley,Gregory Moore,Melanie Heniff

doi:10.5811/cpcem.2020.5.47222

Abstract

This article presents three medical-legal cases that define a physician’s duty to warn and include caveats on medical practice within the scope of the law. Some physicians may not recognize that these legal and liability requirements extend not only to physical danger, but also to infectious diseases, medical illness, and drug effects.

Highlights

Many emergency physicians and providers are aware of their duty to warn in situations where a patient expresses ideation of harming another person(s) physically
Duty to Warn in the Emergency Department: Three Medical Legal Cases That Illustrate Providers’ Broad Risk and Liability
We have presented medical-legal cases that define a physician’s duty to warn and include caveats on medical practice within the scope of the law

Summary

Medical Legal Case Reports

Duty to Warn in the Emergency Department: Three Medical Legal Cases That Illustrate Providers’ Broad Risk and Liability. MD† Gregory Moore, MD, JD‡ Melanie Heniff, MD, JD§. This article presents three medical-legal cases that define a physician’s duty to warn and include caveats on medical practice within the scope of the law. Some physicians may not recognize that these legal and liability requirements extend to physical danger, and to infectious diseases, medical illness, and drug effects.

INTRODUCTION

CONCLUSION