Medico‐legal radiology ‐ Edited by WSC Hare

Abstract

By WSC Hare. Published by Churchill Livingston, Elsevier Publishers, Sydney, 2007. 200 pages. A$79.00. ISBN 978 072 953 8312. It is an honour to review this book which contains some of the distilled wisdom of a radiological giant. Professor William SC Hare was the first Australian Professor in Radiology and held the Chair in Melbourne from 1965 to 1988. His career was remarkable both in innovation and scope of practice. Between 1990 and 2000 he provided legal opinion on the radiological aspects of hundreds of cases. Radiologists in training would do well to follow Professor Hare’s advice in separate chapters on interpreting diagnostic images and writing reports. Much of this book contains ‘must knows’ for one’s career in radiology. In the crowded curriculum, it is all too easy for the trainee to be mesmerized by exotica most of us seldom encounter. Professor Hare shines the spotlight on the common pitfalls of our specialty. Radiologists at all stages in their career would benefit from the 10 chapters devoted to different parts of the body. These chapters have a compelling style considerably enhanced with many succinct pertinent examples of actual litigation. A useful summary list of ‘suggestions’ is given at the end of each of the 15 chapters. The literature up to the end of 2006 has been most thoroughly reviewed and scores of key references selected. This book is particularly timely as radiologists enter an era of individual recertification. Different countries will introduce processes that vary in detail. However, common to all will be a paradigm shift in culture of scrutiny of our personal performance. Those who read this book and follow its advice will provide a better service for patients and clinicians, as well as reduce their own vulnerability to claims of professional malpractice or misconduct. Radiological error and discrepancy is a most sensitive topic. Professor Hare’s balanced analysis will prove very helpful for clinical directors and conveners of radiological discrepancy meetings. Readers will gain very useful advice on how to word radiological reports that are likely to be used in deciding legal outcomes (e.g. compensation cases). There are several chapters on legal processes, including sections on the radiologist as a defendant and another on the radiologist as a witness. I anticipate that this book will also prove very popular with orthopaedic surgeons and other clinicians who provide medico-legal reports, as well as with lawyers involved in personal injury and medical litigation work. This is a book all radiologists should own and read. It is the product of unrivalled experience, scholarship, wisdom and an awesome amount of research. There are now two beacons in the medico-legal radiological firmament: Leonard Berlin and William Hare.