dental legal issues

[Anonymous]

i have nt come across or heard of any dental related legal isues. could someone highlight to me any dental legal tangles so that i get an idea regarding the necessary defensive approach. must be usually related to surgeies i guess. please enlighten.

        

[charmi_shah]

Hi,

Swallowing of instrument (eg.files) due to doctors negligence would definitely be included in dental legal cases,though it would be rare possibility and insurance companies do offer professional indemnity cover for doctors.

Regards.

        

[drsapna]

*If a dies on dental chair due to cardiac arrest or any other life threatening underlying disease and GDPs who usually undergo superfast dental practice may skip medical histroy and may be in swamp full of trouble..so medical histroy,drug histroy should be asked properly without hurrying..and it should be mentioned on case paper in bold letters so that dentist himself can’t miss it in further visits..every dental clinician should have medical emergency kit in his/her clinic..and should know how to save a patient who is on verge of dying on dental chair due to medical emergency..being doctor every patient/his relatives would expect from dentist something to be done immediately to save patient before sending to hospital near by .
*If dental complication such as periapical or gingival perforation occurs,rc instrument breaks up inside canal,maxillary sinus floor perforation occurs during extraction,etc dentist should mention it on case paper so that it will not become case of negligience by dentist if patient goes to another dentist and he will tell patient about that complication and an educated patient (specially in big cities) may go to consumer court and take legal action.In USA, it is common..law is very tough there..Indian patients, certainly are not that much aware still dentists should be aware of legal problems which other dentists have faced..
*In case of married female patient(20-35yrs) it is always better to ask whether she is pregnant before prescribing any medicine or starting treatment..

        

[Anonymous]

charmi_shah wrote:

Hi,

Swallowing of instrument (eg.files) due to doctors negligence would definitely be included in dental legal cases,though it would be rare possibility and insurance companies do offer professional indemnity cover for doctors.

Regards.

Differentiate between error in judgement and negligence. If unfortunately if a patient swallows an endo instrument than immediately the patient must be informed and reassured. Find out whether where the instrument is in the trachea or the oesophagus. If it is in the wind pipe than it could be a medical emergency.

Than refer the patient to an appropriate facility. Make detailed entries on the patients papers and preserve the records with you.

Follow up regularly on the case.

Medical mishaps are not negilgence. Not doing anything about them is negligence.

Finally, before starting any case analyse the psychological profile of the patient. If you feel that the patient is too demanding or a difficult patient than do not start with the case.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Veeren

        

[Anonymous]

what equipments and drugs should be compulsory components of the emergency kit in a dental clinic . ,., also suppose a medically compromised patient has been given written clearance from a physician or specialist, with regards to fitness for a particular dental procedure, and a complication (due to the medical condition) develops during or after the treatment then can the patient hold the dentist responsible for negligience ., ?? ?

        

[charmi_shah]

hi.the link below has brief detail about LIFE SAVING drugs.Hope helps.

http://www.biswajitsarkar.in/downloads/Indian%20Patent%20System%20for%20Life%20Saving%20Drugs.doc

Regards.

        

[Shirdent]

Top reasons for legal tangles include mis-diagnosis and non treatment of dental infections.

For instance:
1. Patient has heart attack, and untreated undiagnosed periodontal disease
Potential malpractice

2. Patient has new decay after radiation treatment of the parotid and salivary concerns are not addressed, only fluoride is advised. OR dentist never even tests for saliva attributes.
Potential Malpractice

Shirley Gutkowski, RDH, BSDH, FACE

        

[Author]

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