Epilepsy--doctor's dilemma, lawyer's delight? Medico-legal consequences of practising in the field of epilepsy report of an International League against Epilepsy British Branch meeting--Edinburgh, April 2000.
Six cases are described where the medical management of a person's epilepsy was brought under legal scrutiny. Lessons learnt from this educational exercise include improving doctor patient communication, the function of a Coroner's Court, when is misdiagnosis negligent, the vagaries of expert witnesses, should failure to diagnose a tumour be blamed on the physician or the service when facilities are inadequate, is failure to recognise a rare drug interaction, failure to warn against an interaction, or failure to take a proper history, negligent? The conference also examined the legal ramifications of the nurse/doctor relationship in epilepsy care, the place of epilepsy guidelines and, due to its interactive nature, reflected on the audience's epilepsy knowledge, which, in places seemed significantly deficient. It was a gripping educational exercise.
Birmingham University Seizure Clinic, Queen Elizabeth Psychiatric Hospital, Birmingham B15 2QZ. t.a.betts@bham.ac.uk
Tim
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Betts
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001284:Atrophy / Q000473:pathology; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007391:International Cooperation; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008318:Malpractice / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology; D006113:United Kingdom