News in brief - April 17, 2006

Fla. high court ruling could impact doctors going bare - AMA Foundation selects recipients - Medical students' cardiac exam skills equal to faculty physicians - Va. doctor appeals pain prescribing verdict - Dr. Hwang Woo-Suk no longer "supreme"

Fla. high court ruling could impact doctors going bare

The Florida Supreme Court in March agreed to hear a case that could hold hospitals financially responsible for the negligence of staff physicians who don't have medical liability coverage, a practice commonly referred to as "going bare."

An appeals court ruled Florida's physician responsibility statute did not allow the plaintiffs to recover a $250,000 judgment from Plantation General Hospital after one of its uninsured staff doctors, Stuart Horowitz, MD, left the country and failed to pay an $859,000 verdict against him.

The high court took the case because the ruling conflicts with three other appellate court precedents holding hospitals liable under the state law. Florida physicians are not required to carry medical liability insurance, but privileged doctors must prove a minimum of $250,000 in financial responsibility under the statute.

Facing some of the highest insurance rates in the country, Florida physicians are concerned hospitals will force them to carry medical liability coverage if the high court shifts some of the burden onto hospitals, according to the Florida Medical Assn.

A friend-of-the-court brief filed by the Florida Hospital Assn. argues that the statute does not put hospitals in charge of enforcing the act. Trial lawyers say the statute was intended to provide minimum protection to injured patients and that hospitals are obligated to police their staffs.

At press time, no date was set for oral arguments.

AMA Foundation selects recipients

The American Medical Association Foundation recently announced 40 recipients of the 2006 Seed Grant Research Program, which provides grants of $1,500 to $2,500 to medical students, residents and fellows who conduct basic science, applied or clinical research projects.

Winners will be able to use the grants to conduct research in the following six categories: arthritis/rheumatism; cardiovascular/pulmonary diseases; HIV/AIDS; leukemia; neoplastic diseases; and neurological disorders.

AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals partially supported this year's program.

For a list of winners, visit the Foundation's Web site (www.amafoundation.org).

Medical students' cardiac exam skills equal to faculty physicians

Third- and fourth-year medical students perform cardiac exams on par with practicing physicians, but researchers found physicians skills in this area actually might decline after years of practice, according to a recently released study in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Researchers said the results have important implications for medical decision-making, patient safety, cost-effective care and continuing medical education. They said practicing physicians might need audio and visual training and testing throughout their careers.

A 50-question, computer-based multimedia test was used to evaluate 860 participants at sites across the United States and Venezuela between 2000 and 2004. The study found the average competency scores of third- and fourth-year medical students on a computer-based multimedia test of cardiac exam skills were the same as medical residents and practicing physicians, including faculty physicians.

Va. doctor appeals pain prescribing verdict

The 4th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals will decide whether Virginia pain specialist William E. Hurwitz, MD, was acting in good faith when he prescribed large doses of opioids and narcotics, such as oxycodone, to patients who were illegally selling and distributing the pills.

In April 2005, Dr. Hurwitz was sentenced to 25 years in prison and fined $1 million after a jury in December 2004 convicted him on 50 counts of charges related to health care fraud and drug trafficking in pain medications.

The high-profile case caught the attention of the medical community, which is concerned physicians will shy away from prescribing the drugs to patients who actually need them for fear of landing in jail.

Dr. Hurwitz's attorney, Lawrence S. Robbins, declined to comment on the pending litigation. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Virginia and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration did not return calls for comment. But in April 2005, the DEA said it hopes to strike a balance between legitimate treatment and abuse. "Doctors should remain confident in their ability to treat pain," DEA administrator Karen Tandy said.

American Medical Association policy opposes the DEA's harassment of physicians who appropriately prescribe and administer controlled substances for pain management.

Dr. Hwang Woo-Suk no longer "supreme"

The South Korean stem-cell researcher who fooled the scientific world into believing he had discovered a way to clone human embryos has been stripped of his title of "supreme scientist," according to Agence France Presse. Hwang Woo-Suk was the first person to be so dubbed by the South Korea's Ministry of Science and Technology.

But this year, Dr. Hwang was fired from his veterinary science post at Seoul National University after an expert university panel concluded that he faked the research for two groundbreaking papers in the journal Science. The "supreme scientist" title, while honorary, also brought with it millions of dollars in government funding. Prosecutors are investigating if Dr. Hwang and other researchers on his team might have defrauded the government.

The panel, though, did conclude Dr. Hwang created the world's first cloned dog, Snuppy.