A medical handoff is a point of transfer in which responsibility for a patient’s care moves from one provider, team, or setting to another. In litigation, these transitions are examined as potential inflection points where critical information may be lost, misinterpreted, or not acted upon. Medical handoffs are not typically treated as a routine step. […]
Sentinel events are serious adverse occurrences in healthcare that signal the possibility of fundamental breakdowns in patient safety systems. In litigation, sentinel events are significant, but the significance does not arise from the severity of the outcome alone. Rather, sentinel events reveal what processes, safeguards, and institutional controls that were in place at the time. […]
Disputes involving genetic versus acquired metabolic injury center on whether a patient’s condition is attributable to an inherent disorder or to a later-occurring event or failure in care. Courts do not resolve the question by reference to diagnosis alone. The inquiry requires a structured evaluation of the evidentiary record to determine whether the claimed injury […]
Phenlyketonuria (PKU) is a metabolic disorder in which the body cannot properly process phenylalanine, leading to toxic accumulation that may cause neurological injury if not controlled. Since PKU is a lifelong genetic disorder, management is dietary and continuous, requiring strict regulation of phenylalanine intake beginning shortly after birth. In litigation, cases involving PKU mismanagement turn […]
Newborn screening programs are designed to identify serious but treatable conditions before clinical deterioration occurs. When results from the screening program are delayed, misreported, or not acted upon, the legal inquiry centers on whether the failure disrupted a time-sensitive opportunity to prevent neurological injury. Courts evaluating these cases focus on the sequence of events link […]