March 11, 2010
Performance Under Pressure: The Legal Side of Pressure Ulcer Prevention
The Federal Register states that pressure ulcers can “reasonably be prevented through the application of evidence-based guidelines.” While “reasonably preventable” does not mean “always preventable,” the statement carries potentially significant legal implications. In this article, Kevin W. Yankowsky, JD, a partner in the Health Law–Health Litigation department of Fulbright & Jaworski LLP and Caroline Fife, MD, CWS, Director of Clinical Research at the Memorial Hermann Center for Wound Healing and Associate Professor–Division of Cardiology at the University of Texas Health Science Center show how the outcome of a medical litigation is highly dependent on the words written and used in a care setting.
