Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF ) Freely available
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Ben-Shlomo, I.
Right arrow Articles by Shalev, E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Ben-Shlomo, I.
Right arrow Articles by Shalev, E.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Human Reproduction, Vol. 14, No. 8, 1925-1926, August 1999
© 1999 European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology

Debates

Legal aspects of clinical practice in reproductive medicine

Retrospective judgement of medical decisions: is the `linear' model appropriate?

Izhar Ben-Shlomo1,3, Moshe Zeidner2 and Eliezer Shalev1

1 Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Haemek Medical Centre, Afula, and Rappapot School of Medicine, Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, and 2 Laboratory for Cross-Cultural Research in Personality and Individual Differences, School of Education, University of Haifa, Israel

Retrospective judgement of medical decisions is a major component in medical education and quality control as well as in litigation. As the latter gathers momentum worldwide, a central concern of the medical profession should be to sort out the inherent weaknesses of retrospective assessment. One obvious difficulty is the limited opportunity for accurate record keeping as clinical events evolve. Also, the best medical records may fail to reflect the clinical situation in its entirety. Furthermore, there may be differing and even contradictory recollections of events by the patients and staff involved. Finally, the emotional and cognitive state of patients and caregivers may have a bearing on the later interpretation of events.

Obstetricians experience too often the frustration of being judged retrospectively. In order to broaden the understanding about this problem, we would like . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Acknowledgments

Notes

References


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?