John said:-
"I have run a service for the last three years"
Interesting
Is this a private service or a NHS service?
Lynda
Lynda Jackson
Senior Clinical Editor
Medical Education Network
mailto:[log in to unmask]
-----Original Message-----
From: Jon Brassey [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Wednesday, October 25, 2000 3:47 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Legal issues around reviews
Dear All,
The second query in a week - sorry!
Again related to reviews. I have run a service for the last three years
that receives questions from primary care professionals. We then rapidly
search, appraise and summarise the literature. This is then sent to the
requestor within 6 hours. The rational behind it was not to do a systematic
review for each question (clearly impossible) but to do better than, say, a
GP with limited time would do. In Gwent the service is very popular and it
is soon to expand outside of Gwent.
A concern has been the legal status of this service and the responses given.
I'm not medically qualified (I have a biology degree) and therefore am I
open to potential lawsuits if I miss an important paper/give bad advice? If
a doctor asks me if aspirin is useful in the secondary prevention of MI. I
report that the most recent SR stated that 'Aspirin has clearly been shown
to reduce mortality in people who have suffered an MI' (or something like
that). The patient is then advised by the doctor that they should take
aspirin (as a result of the literature I forwarded) - the patient dies due
to an allergic reaction. The doctor may say I only advised it because Jon
Brassey told me to!
I should point out we never advise on what is the best course of action.
Likewise we are transparent about the process. I've been told that a
disclaimer is not necessarily sufficient.
Needless to say this is a bigger issue than just my service - what about
other organisations that synthesise the literature?
Any help?
Jon
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