Pheochromocytoma Crisis Induced by Steroids [Pregnant Cardiac Arrest]
Editor’s note: this case was originally published by the Expert Witness Newsletter. Read it in it’s entirety here: Read Case A 33-year-old woman presented to the ED in September 2015. She reported lower abdominal pain and urinary discomfort. A pelvic exam was felt to be indicative of PID. A CT scan showed several findings: Left […]
EKG from ACEP Now Article
A 58-year-old woman with burning chest pain. This is the (disappointingly poor) copy of the EKG used in the legal exhibits. I presume that the expert witnesses had a better copy for review. I see slight elevation in V1 and aVR, and slight depression in II, V4, V5, V6. Some leads have too much artifact […]
Does the iPhone 12 deactivate implantable cardioverter defibrillators?
An interesting article came out a few days ago in Heart Rhythm, raising concern that new hardware in the iPhone 12 may deactivate implanted cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs). In short, the concern is that an array of magnets in the phone may turn off the life-saving function of these cardiac devices. This “MagSafe” technology was already […]
Expert Witness Case #36
Expert Witness Case # 36 This case concerns a 29-year-old woman who was G2P1 and induced at 41 weeks gestation. She was induced with oxytocin and progressed to 9cm dilation but did not reach full dilatation. During labor she also developed a fever. The baby was in an occiput posterior position. The OB resident and […]
Expert Witness Case #34
Expert Witness Case #34 A 42-year-old man presented to a urologist to undergo a vasectomy. During the procedure, his left testicle became very painful. He was told to take analgesics and the pain would improve. The pain continued to worsen and 3 days later he went to an ED, where he was found to have […]
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Med Mal Reviewer Medical malpractice cases. 16: Motorcycle Crash A 55-year-old man presents to the ED after a motorcycle accident with a deformed left leg and hypotension. Read the Case 15: Ski accident A 61-year-old woman on warfarin was skiing when she crashed and hit her head. Read the Case 14: Leg Pain A 59-year-old […]
Case 16: Documentation
The Documentation Rubric applies to any undifferentiated patient in the acute care setting. We will address Dr. B’s documentation here. Note that Dr. R did not write anything in the patient’s chart. This is extremely bad form. If you see a patient or make recommendations on their care, you must write a note. This note […]
Case 16: Analysis
Hemorrhagic Shock Until Otherwise Proven There are approximately 3.9 million annual visits for motor vehicle accidents to emergency departments,1 and a significant amount of emergency medicine residency addresses the care of trauma patients. Hypotension after trauma should be treated as hemorrhage until proven otherwise. A recent change to 10th edition of ATLS guidelines in 2018 […]
Case 16: Lawsuit Outcome
Almost 3.5 years after the patient’s death, the case went to trial. The jury returned a verdict for the defense. The plaintiffs have filed an appeal, and the case is currently pending in appellate court. Continue to read the medical learning points and analysis of this case.
Case 16: Defense Experts
In the deposition of the emergency physician serving as a defense expert witness, he discussed the limitations of working at a community hospital as opposed to a Level 1 trauma center. This includes having a smaller team, delay to transfusion of blood products, and pointing out that the center does not have FFP or platelets: […]