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The simple reason for creating this book was my impression that the law is having an increasing impact on the practice of medicine. There is hardly a physician I know who has not been deeply troubled by legal problems professionally, economically, and most important of all, psychologically. The past decade has seen medical practice premiums steadily rising. Multimillion dollar verdicts have not been unusual. Having disregarded these vital issues for many years, physicians have suddenly become very aware of litigation-related problems. Having been interested for a long time in the logic ofthe law and the romance of legal research, I thought it would be useful to create a book that would result in the blending of great minds in law and medicine. It has been my long standing observation and belief that the approach of professors of medicine, and that of learned members of the bar and bench, when put together, produce unique results. Putting these views together has been the real challenge in editing this book.
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Legal Aspects of Medicine J.R. Vevaina R.C. Bone E. Kassoff Editors Legal Aspects of Medicine Including Cardiology, Pulmonary Medicine, and Critical Care Medicine Springer-Verlag N ew York Berlin Heidelberg London Paris Tokyo JAMES R. VEVAINA, MD, FACP, FCCP Acting Chief, Critical Care Medicine and Associate Director, Pulmonary Lab, Flushing Medical Center; a major teaching affiliate of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY; Pulmonary division, Long Island Jewish-Hillside Medical Center, New Hyde Park, NY; Consultant to the State of New York and Consolidated Edison Corporation; Flushing Hospital and Medical Center, 4500 Parsons Boulevard, Flushing, NY 11355, USA ROGER C. BONE, MD, FACP, FCCP The Ralph Crissman Brown Professor and Chairman, Department of Internal Medicine and Critical Care Medicine, Rush Medical College, Chicago, IL 60612, USA HONORABLE EDWIN KASSOFF Presiding Justice, Appellate Term of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, 2nd and 11th Judicial Districts; Professor of Law, Pace University; 88-11 Sutphin Boulevard, Jamaica, NY 11435, USA Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Legal aspect of medicine: including cardiology, pulmonary medicine, and critical care medicine / James R. Vevaina, Roger C. Bone, Edwin Kassoff, editors. p. cm. Bibliography: p. ISBN-13: 978-1-4612-8867-1 e-ISBN-13: 978-1-4612-4534-6 DOl: 10.1007/978-1-4612-4534-6 I. Medical laws and legislation-United States. 2. PhysiciansMalpractice-United States. 3. Medical jurisprudence-United States. I. Vevaina, James R. II. Bone, Roger C. III. Kassoff, Edwin. KF3821.A75L413 1989 344.73'041-dc 19 88-20193 [347.30441] Printed on acid-free paper © 1989 by Springer-Verlag New York Inc. Softcover reprint ofthe hardcover 1st edition 1989 All rights reserved. This work may not be translated or copied in whole or in part without the written permission of the publisher (Springer-Verlag, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010, USA), except for brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis. Use in connection with any form of information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimiliar methodology now known or hereafter developed is forbidden. The use of general descriptive names, trade names, trademarks, etc. in this publication, even if the former are not especially identified, is not to be taken as a sign that such names, as understood by the Trade Marks and Merchandise Marks Act, may accordingly be used freely by anyone. While the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of going to press, neither the authors nor the editors nor the publisher can accept any legal responsibility for any errors or omissions that may be made. The publi