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Legal Speak

What to Say and Do When Terminating Employees
November 17, 2009 3:30 PM by Tony DeWitt
Decisions to terminate employees (whether those are described as firings, terminations, layoffs or the more politically-correct "downsizing") are never fun. They're hard on employees, and they're very hard on managers who may be assuming more duties as Read More...
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Collateral Damage
November 6, 2009 11:25 AM by Tony DeWitt
One thing soldiers with recent combat experience say is that frequently it's the non-combatants who suffer the worst in battle. This is something like the observation my daughter, a pediatrician, makes about working in the ER: it's the innocent bystanders Read More...
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How Not to Solve the Labor Problem
October 30, 2009 10:40 AM by Tony DeWitt
Nearly every nursing home has labor problems related to getting and keeping good staff members. Good help is exceptionally hard to find. Good-hearted nurses and aides, who are willing to work long hours under difficult conditions are often hard to find. Read More...
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Safeguarding Property
October 14, 2009 10:37 AM by Tony DeWitt
In law school one of the more esoteric doctrines of property law -- the bailment -- gets a lot of attention. Cases involving bailments for hire are distinguished from other bailments. The effects of disclaimers are studied. In the end, the bottom line Read More...
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No “Misappropriation” in Medical Record Disclosure
October 14, 2009 10:33 AM by Tony DeWitt
On September 17, 2009, the Oklahoma State Supreme Court overruled a decision by the Court of Appeals involving a licensure proceeding filed against a former nurse's aide by the Department of Health. In the proceeding, the Department of Health charged Read More...
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When Did Murder Become Entertainment?
October 7, 2009 2:56 PM by Tony DeWitt
There is a difference between a novel and a news story in a newspaper, even though both are printed on paper. Similarly, there is a difference between a legal drama like Law and Order, and what actually happens in the nation's criminal courts. The fact Read More...
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Pennywise and Pound Foolish
September 25, 2009 12:20 PM by Tony DeWitt
The patient's oxygen saturation on the pulse oximeter showed a dangerously low value. Narcan was administered. Intubation equipment was readied. The patient was groggy, but did not appear to be in significant respiratory distress. Another oximeter was Read More...
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Liability for the Negligence of Others
September 23, 2009 12:31 PM by Tony DeWitt
Lawyers operate in a funny world. On one side of the law legislative governments write statutes. On the other side of things, courts issue decisions and catalog them. As a result, knowing the law means both knowing what the statutes say and what the decisions Read More...
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Ambulance Services and Kickbacks
September 18, 2009 11:39 AM by Tony DeWitt
No business wants to pay more for goods or services than it has to pay. This is why hospitals and nursing homes join buying groups for purchases of commodities from bed liners to toilet paper. The buying power of the group drives the cost down. The manufacturers Read More...
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Fire Safety & Staffing
August 26, 2009 9:47 AM by Tony DeWitt
For the most part, nursing home administrations would like to be able to make the determination about how many staff are needed for a given situation on their own without government oversight. This has always been the American way. The employer gets the Read More...
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Payday Loans in Nursing Homes???
August 25, 2009 3:36 PM by Tony DeWitt
As a consumer advocate, I have frequently written and advocated against payday loans. In Missouri, for example, where there is no law that restricts the interest rates these predatory lenders can charge, some lenders get annual percentage rates as high Read More...
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Criminal Liability for Negligent Acts
August 19, 2009 10:02 AM by Tony DeWitt
I once had a boss who said that being lazy wasn't a crime, because if it was, there would never be anyone to mind the prisons. It is human nature, sometimes, for folks to be lazy. People fail to put medication back into the refrigerator. People forget Read More...
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More on Sexual Harassment
August 14, 2009 10:58 AM by Tony DeWitt
Sexual Harassment Investigations NC is hired in December 2008. In her first week she misses work once. In her next week, she misses work twice. In her third and fourth weeks of December, she misses work 3 times. Each time she says that the absence is Read More...
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The Diprivan Mystery
July 30, 2009 3:34 PM by Tony DeWitt
I have talked to several nurses over the past few weeks about the strange situation involving the drug Diprivan and Michael Jackson. As something of an expert on Diprivan (I have been involved in professional discipline cases involving the drug), I have Read More...
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Sexual Harassment, Part 2
July 28, 2009 10:50 AM by Tony DeWitt
When lawyers think about sexual harassment, they tend to frame their thoughts based on cases they've handled or discussed. Usually this involves a woman being harassed by a man, although there are the rare cases where men have complained about harassment Read More...
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