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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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Health Care Reform
June 30, 2009 9:00 AM by Tony DeWitt

The trumpets have already sounded, and the fight is on over health care. The warriors are riding toward the battlefield in DC, and they are armed with their powerpoint slides, their position papers, and of course, their checkbooks. On the one side we Read More...

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The Need For Close Supervision
April 29, 2009 3:50 PM by Tony DeWitt

Several recent medical-legal issues make it apparent that one of the key things every nursing or medical facility should do is supervise staff very closely. Not only should registered nurses look carefully after what aides and LPNs do, but day shift supervisors, Read More...

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Shame on JAMA
April 9, 2009 10:28 AM by Tony DeWitt

The Journal of the American Medical Association has always been one of those prestigious publications cited by news media and by courts and lawyers in support of science or medical issues. I have frequently cited articles from its pages in support of Read More...

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Preventative Legal Care
February 25, 2009 1:21 PM by Tony DeWitt

Health care workers are big on prevention. They get flu shots. They get their immunizations. They ask their patients to get their shots and eat right. Most believe that if you take care to prevent ailments, you'll live a happier life. In fact, a large Read More...

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Entrapment?
February 5, 2009 10:17 AM by Tony DeWitt

As a member of the press, and someone with a good camera, I am always amazed that people are afraid of cameras. While I can understand not wanting your photo on the front page of the New York Daily News doing something embarrassing like blowing your nose, Read More...

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Who Has Healthcare Veto Power?
November 11, 2008 1:29 PM by Tony DeWitt

Recently I was in Killington, Vermont doing a presentation. An attendee asked me about this situation: A patient in our facility came in and signed an advanced directive where he did not want to be on a ventilator and did not want to be kept alive by Read More...

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A Marvel of Democracy
November 5, 2008 1:56 PM by Tony DeWitt

Yesterday I participated as a poll watcher at a Missouri polling place. I had the opportunity to see both the best and worst of America in one day. The Best At 6:00 a.m. before the polls were even open, scores of people were lined up to cast their vote. Read More...

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Go Vote!
November 4, 2008 1:25 PM by Tony DeWitt

On December 17, 1944, near the town of Bastogne, France, a young man named Victor Gower, a staff-sergeant in the United States Army from a small town in Missouri, died in what historians have come to call the Battle of the Bulge. He was one of 19,000 Read More...

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Making the Law Work
September 26, 2008 11:45 AM by Tony DeWitt

It is often said, erroneously, that ignorance of the law is no excuse. The fact is, ignorance is frequently an excuse, and juries determine if it's a good one. Societies regulate conduct by passing laws. Sometimes the law is a little slow in catching Read More...

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Brother, Can You Spare a Click?
September 23, 2008 11:40 AM by Tony DeWitt

There is a fabulous folktale about the gossip who, seeking atonement, goes to the village religious leader and begs to be forgiven for spreading gossip. The religious leader tells him to go home, open a pillow, and scatter the feathers to the wind, and Read More...

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Nurse on Trial: Conclusion
August 27, 2008 11:43 AM by Tony DeWitt

"Mark," I told Mr. Neely, "the question is really where you want to hold the party - your house or mine?" With those words I told Mark Neely that the Commissioner of the Administrative Hearing Commission had found no cause for discipline and given him Read More...

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Stop Digging!
June 9, 2008 1:24 PM by Tony DeWitt

It is truly unfortunate that the selfless work of thousands of nursing home executives around the country every day goes unnoticed. The administrators who run to the bank for their residents, who arrange special services, and who go the extra mile to Read More...

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Depositions 201
March 4, 2008 10:58 AM by Tony DeWitt

It is said that “assume” is the only word that makes an “ass” out of “u” and “me.” In a slightly more earthy comment, a drill sergeant of mine suggested that the word was the mother of all mistakes. Regardless of which way you remember it, remember that Read More...

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