Louisiana Medical Mutual Insurance Company (LAMMICO)

Antibiotic Stewardship Strategies for Adult Outpatient Care

Drug-resistant superbugs are a fact – not fiction! According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2 million people a year are infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and over 23,000 of them die as a result. The CDC affirms…

EFM Case Study #17: Oxytocin Truths and Myths

Exogenous oxytocin (Pitocin) may be the most commonly used drug in obstetrics but it is not benign. Its use in clinical practice is riddled with myths, unsubstantiated by science, that perpetuate poor practice habits. Misuse, overuse, and sometimes abuse in…

EFM Case Study #16: Equipment Failure

Medical error is the third leading cause of death in the US and technology failure is to blame 44% of the time. Perinatal clinicians are frequently unaware of the equipment limitations they use routinely. Non-invasive blood pressure machines, pulse oximeters,…

EFM Case Study #15: Critical Event Notification

The obstetric malpractice claim of “a delay in treatment of fetal distress” remains the number one factor In over 20% of claims from multiple PIAA resources. The key to avoiding delaying treatment to a fetus in distress is to recognize…

Malpractice Litigation: Managing the Stress

Receiving notice of a medical malpractice claim often comes as a shock to physicians. It ushers them into an adversarial and hostile legal environment. The stress can impair the physician’s health, family relationships, and ability to meet the professional obligations…

Radiology Diagnoses: The Effects of Cognitive and Systems Factors

As specialists who are closely involved in the process of diagnosing patients’ conditions (often serious ones), radiologists have a comparatively high malpractice liability risk, and the top allegation in claims against them is that they have made an error in…

Prescribing Controlled Substances Updated

According to the CDC, drug overdose deaths are the leading cause of injury deaths in the US, and this death rate more than doubled from 1999 to 2013. Abused drugs included opioid pain killers, stimulants, -and -depressants, and the majority…

Ischemic Stroke: Risk Issues for the Emergency Physician

While professional society guidelines differ in their grading of the recommendation to administer intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (IV tPA) for treatment of ischemic stroke, there is evidence that giving tPA within established parameters can improve some patients’ outcomes. Patients with…

Antibiotic Stewardship Strategies for Adult Outpatient Care

Studies of antibiotics provided to US children found that over half of all antibiotic prescriptions in the outpatient setting are given for infections that are likely viral rather than bacterial. In such situations, the medication prescribed has no therapeutic benefit…

Social Media Management: How to Respond to Negativity Aimed at You

With the rise of social media as a preferred communication platform, every industry has become a target of negative reviews. The rise in websites that facilitate negative commentary has proliferated. Unfortunately, negative comments are often divisive, angry, and can feel…