McMenamin Law Offices

In the first installment on this topic, we considered the legal status of guidance documents published by Virginia administrative agencies such as the Board of Medicine. See, Virginia Board of Medicine, Guidance 85-12 “Telemedicine,” https://medicalawfirm.com/2019/03/05/virginia-board-of-medicine-guidance-85-12-telemedicine/. In this piece, we’ll examine…

The Virginia Board of Medicine has published a guidance document for physicians providing distance care.  See, Virginia Board of Medicine, Guidance 85-12 “Telemedicine,” most recently revised 28 October 2018, http://www.dhp.virginia.gov/Medicine/guidelines/85-12.pdf. The Guidance deserves analysis; the issues it raises are numerous enough…

The Health Care Quality Improvement Act, 42 USC §§ 11101 – 11152, available at https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/11101, created the National Practitioner Data Bank (“NPDB”) in 1986.  Boards of Medicine imposing disciplinary measures on licensees are required to report. When confronted with a…

In a story irresistible to your servant, NPR reported recently on the use of drones to deliver vaccines to the island of Erromango, one of 80+ islands making up the Republic of Vanuatu. Amy Held, “Drones Deliver Vaccines on Island…

On New Year’s Eve, the New York Times ran a story about Facebook’s efforts to identify potential suicides so that the authorities can be notified and interventions undertaken.  Natasha Singer, “In Screening for Suicide Risk, Facebook Takes On Tricky Public Health…

In a poignant story reported in Stat, the AMA president, speaking at its Interim Meeting, told the members that a patient of hers whose pharmacist, calling the patient a “drug seeker,” had refused to dispense opioids she had prescribed. The…

For lack of federal funding, the National Guideline Clearinghouse closed on July 16, 2018. The demise of the Clearinghouse, however, is not the same as the demise of guidelines themselves. On the contrary, the ECRI Guidelines Trust has now set up…

On October 5, 2018, President Trump signed the Sports Medicine Licensure Clarity Act. Long promoted by orthopedists, physical therapists and trainers, the Act establishes a system under which host states will effectively recognize the out-of-state medical licenses of sports medicine…

Your servant is a chronic, perhaps nearly solo, critic of clinical practice guidelines (“CPGs”). Two recent articles tend to confirm his contrarian notions.   Khan, et al., “Prevalence of Financial Conflicts of Interest Among Authors of Clinical Guidelines Related to…

“Not later than one year after the date of enactment of the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act, in consultation with the Secretary, the Attorney General shall promulgate final regulations specifying: (A) the limited circumstances in which a special registration…