Does the Fertilized Egg Equals Legal Person?

From today's New York Times:

"A constitutional amendment facing voters in Mississippi on Nov. 8, and similar initiatives brewing in half a dozen other states including Florida and Ohio, would declare a fertilized human egg to be a legal person, effectively branding abortion and some forms of birth control as murder. With this far-reaching anti-abortion strategy, the proponents of what they call personhood amendments hope to reshape the national debate."

By the time most of my visitors will have read this thread, the voters in Mississippi will have voted and the constitutional amendment will have passed with all its potential consequences or simply defeated and with some folks in Mississippi unsatisfied. Read the article describing the significance of this vote and return and discuss here what you think would be the consequences of such an amendment passing in other states or even become part of the United States Constitution. Should a fertilized human egg be a legal person and the intentional destruction of that person be consider a crime such as a homicide (murder)? ..Maurice.

Medical Bloopers 3: A Medical Communications Defect

The following medical charting errors may appear funny to the casual reader but if they or their cousins are written in medical charts, they not only appear ambiguous but may in some cases be harmful for the safe and effective medical management of patients. These "bloopers" are the results of rushed notations with no rereading by the writer of what was actually written.

This is actually the third in a series of such charting errors (the second in this series was an addition of 6 "bloopers" added to the original 19 and may be found at this link). There may be a few repeated from that second listing in this current presentation. Enjoy. ..Maurice.

Note: These "bloopers" come from a variety of sources and I don't know who to acknowledge for them.

By the time he was admitted, his rapid heart had stopped, and he was feeling better.

Patient has chest pain if she lies on her left side for over a year.

On the second day the knee was better and on the third day it had completely disappeared.

She has had no rigors or shaking chills, but her husband said she was very hot in bed last night.

The patient has been depressed ever since she began seeing me in 1986.

Patient was released to outpatient department without dressing.I have suggested that he loosen his pants before standing, and then when he stands with the help of his wife, they should fall to the floor.

The patient is tearful and crying constantly. She also appears to be depressed.

Discharge status: Alive but without permission.

The patient will need disposition, and therefore we will get Dr. Shapiro to dispose of him.

Healthy appearing decrepit 67 year old male, mentally alert, but forgetful.

The patient refused an autopsy.

The patient has no past history of suicides.

The patient expired on the floor uneventfully.

Patient has left his white blood cells at another hospital.

The patient's past medical history has been remarkably insignificant with only a 45 pound weight gain in the past three days.

She slipped on the ice and apparently her legs went in separate directions in early January.

The patient experienced sudden onset of severe shortness of breath with a picture of acute pulmonary edema at home while having sex which gradually deteriorated in the emergency room.

The patient had waffles for breakfast and anorexia for lunch.

Between you and me, we ought to be able to get this lady pregnant.

The patient was in his usual state of good health until his airplane ran out of gas and crashed.

Since she can't get pregnant with her husband, I thought you would like to work her up.

She is numb from her toes down.

While in the ER, she was examined, X-rated and sent home.

The skin was moist and dry.

Occasional, constant, infrequent headaches.

Coming from New York, this man has no children.

Patient was alert and unresponsive.

When she fainted, her eyes rolled around the room.

Malpractice vs Involuntary Manslaughter: What is the Distinction?

The current legal case being tried in court regarding the death of Michael Jackson by the alleged acts of Dr. Conrad Murray as involuntary manslaughter in contrast to the death being an act of malpractice brings up the question: what is the difference in legal terms between medical malpractice and involuntary manslaughter. And, perhaps, what is the difference in ethical terms? If the physician is found guilty, the physician is punished financially in the first case but by prison time in the second. An excellent article written by Eisenberg and Berlin in the American Journal of Radiology in August 2002 gives case examples and may tend to answer to the question posed in the title of my thread. An excerpt from the article follows:

The circumstances under which a physician's error of medical judgment triggers criminal prosecution are not totally clear. An English court of appeals ruled that to justify a criminal conviction, it must be proven that a physician acted with “gross negligence,” which is characterized by any or all of the following elements: indifference to an obvious risk of injury to health; actual foresight of the risk coupled with the determination nevertheless to run it; an appreciation of the risk coupled with a high degree of negligence in the attempt to avoid it; and inattention or failure to avert a serious risk.

A person whose behavior is “grossly negligent” may be liable for involuntary manslaughter if his or her conduct results in the accidental death of another person. Most jurisdictions hold that something more than ordinary negligence must be proven before the defendant can be found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. This usually requires that there be a substantial danger not only of bodily harm, but also of “serious bodily harm or death.” The defendant must have acted “recklessly,” a term defined as a “gross deviation from the standard of conduct that a law-abiding person would observe” in the same situation The court must consider all the circumstances surrounding the incident, including the social utility of any objective the defendant is trying to fulfill.

What, in my opinion, seems to be missing in the accusation of a physician with a crime of involuntary manslaughter rather than a professional error of malpractice is whether the physician's intent in diagnosis and management was to ignore any attempt toward the professional goal of beneficence (doing a "good" ) to his or her patient. If one could prove that such was not the intent and goal, shouldn't that be the overriding criteria to define a death as professional malpractice and not a crime? On the other hand, I look forward toward what how others to my blog thread look at this distinction. ..Maurice.