One of the topics generating a great deal of attention in zoning relates to people leasing their residential homes via Airbnb.

This issue came up in Reihner v. City of Scranton Zoning Hearing Board No. 256 C.D. 2017 (PA Commw. Ct. Dec. 8, 2017). The owners of a single family residential dwelling rented the three bedrooms on the second floor of their house via the Airbnb website.

The City filed a notice of violation alleging that the use was a “Bed and Breakfast” which was not allowed in the property’s zoning district.

Scranton’s ordinance defined a “Bed and Breakfast use” as follows:

“The use of a single family residential dwelling and/or accessory structure which includes the rental of overnight sleeping accommodations and bathroom access…and which does not provide any cooking facilities or provision of meals for guests other than breakfast…”

Continue Reading Zoning Concerns from Listing Your Property on Airbnb

Winter is coming – and with it comes snow, sleet, and freezing rain. In the Philadelphia area, the average yearly snowfall is 22.4 inches.

Winter driving is dangerous. According to the Federal Highway Administration, more than 116,000 Americans are injured and over 1,300 are killed on snowy, slushy, or icy pavement every winter. Pennsylvania is one of the top five deadliest states for wintertime car accidents, often caused, at least in part, by poor visibility and road conditions. Be careful out there!

Another hazard, a preventable hazard, is also part of winter driving. While viewed by many as a harmless prank, PennDot cautions against throwing snowballs at cars due to the risk of causing an accident. A snowball thrown at a car can break a car’s windshield or cause a car accident by distracting the driver or causing the driver to swerve into adjacent or oncoming vehicles, or even pedestrians.

Continue Reading Don’t Throw Snowballs (or Rocks) at Cars!

“Telemedicine” or “Telehealth” are the terms most often used when referring to clinical diagnosis and monitoring that is delivered by technology. Telemedicine encompasses healthcare provided via real time two-way video conferencing; file sharing, including transmission of health history, x-rays, films, or photos; remote patient monitoring; and consumer mobile health apps on smart phones, tablets, and devices that collect data and transmit it to a healthcare provider. Telemedicine is increasingly being used for everything from diagnosing common viruses to monitoring patients with serious long-term health issues.

The American Telemedicine Association reports that majority of hospitals now use some form of telemedicine. Two years ago, there were approximately 20 million telemedicine video consultations; that number is expected to increase to about 160 million by 2020. An estimated one-third of employer group plans already cover some type of telehealth.

Continue Reading Telemedicine – Are There Increased Risks With Virtual Doctor Visits?

Vehicle Safety Recalls Are Often Ignored

A recent study by Carfax indicated that more than 63 million vehicles in the United States (one in four vehicles on the road) are being driven with unfixed safety recalls. J.D. Power and Associates estimated the number to be 45 million vehicles, while acknowledging the total could be higher due to older recalls that are difficult to track.

Why Are Vehicle Safety Recalls Often Ignored?

When vehicle safety recalls are delivered, many people put off addressing the issue or ignore it altogether due to inconvenience, lack of time, or perhaps not realizing the danger associated with some recalls. If they don’t own the car anymore, some prior owners just discard the notice.

Continue Reading Don’t Ignore Vehicle Safety Recalls

The FDA has issued a safety alert to consumers involving several dietary supplements including Rhino 7, Papa Zen, Fifty Shades, and Grande X. The safety alert warns consumers that the products may include undeclared active prescription drug ingredients.

The products are labeled as a dietary supplement and each is packaged as a blister pack capsule. Product names and lot numbers are available in the FDA’s safety alert.

Voluntary Recall of Dietary Supplements

Gadget Island, Inc. is voluntarily recalling the dietary supplements at the consumer level. The products have been found to contain undeclared active pharmaceutical ingredients – sildenafil, desmethyl carbodenafil, and tadalafil.

Continue Reading FDA Issues Warning About Dietary Supplements Containing Active Drug Ingredients

In the 1980s, journalists used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain data on individual cardiac surgeons’ surgical outcomes from the New York State Department of Health. A recent JAMA article discusses that type of data and takes the position that despite its limitations, the data should be publicly reported.

Debate Surrounding Reporting of Individual Surgeons’ Outcomes

The debate centers on whether data should be reported on the hospital level only or also reported as to individual surgeons.

According to the article, several objections to reporting data relating to individual surgeons have been raised.

First, an individual surgeon may perform a low number of procedures, possibly leading to an unreliable measure of performance. However, the author notes that performance can be aggregated across multiple years or a surgeon’s performance across a range of procedures can be used. Also, the data can be presented in a way that highlights the statistical limitations.

Continue Reading Should Surgical Outcomes for Individual Surgeons Be Available to the Public?

After the sudden deaths of five people following the placement of inflated silicone balloons in their stomachs to treat obesity, the Food and Drug Administration sent a letter to health care providers on August 10, 2017, warning of potential risks associated with the intragastric balloons. All five reported deaths happened within one month of the procedure, with three of the five people dying one to three days after the procedure. The agency said two more death reports happened within the same time frame and may be related to complications from the balloon treatment. The agency has not yet determined whether any of the deaths were directly related to either the devices or the insertion procedures.

Potential Risks of Intragastric Balloons

One risk is over-inflation. Overinflation may occur when the intragastric balloon inflates with more fluid or with air after placement in the patient’s stomach. Overinflation symptoms include abdominal swelling, severe abdominal pain, breathing problems, and vomiting. Acute pancreatitis is a separate type of risk, caused when the balloons compress other gastrointestinal structures. Symptoms include back and abdominal pain.

Both types of complications can happen within days of the procedure and may require doctors to remove the devices.

Continue Reading FDA Issues Warning Letter Concerning Stomach Balloons Used to Treat Obesity

A recent New Jersey case addressed a statute of limitations issue pertaining to claims arising from a physician’s disclosure of a patient’s HIV-positive status to a third party without his consent.

Plaintiff was a patient of the defendant physician, a board-certified nephrologist. He was being treated for acute kidney failure. During an emergency consultation in plaintiff’s private hospital room, defendant discussed his medical condition and disclosed plaintiff’s HIV-positive status in the presence of a third party without plaintiff’s consent.

Continue Reading Is Doctor’s Disclosure of Patient’s HIV-Positive Status Medical Malpractice?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 83.6 percent of adults and 93 percent of children had contact with a health care professional in 2015. Hospital visits numbered 125.7 million while physician office visits numbered 922.6 million.

While the vast majority of medical procedures go smoothly, errors do occur and cause injury to patients. Surgery errors are the most common basis for an inpatient medical malpractice claim. As for outpatients, errors in diagnosis are the most common basis for a claim.

If a person suspects medical malpractice due to an adverse outcome from a medical diagnosis or procedure, he or she may decide to reach out to the physician, medical care provider, or hospital for some explanation or recourse. As a recent case illustrates, that may NOT be the best course of action to take.

Continue Reading What You Should and Shouldn’t Do if You Suspect Medical Malpractice

Generally, after an examination for a medical problem, a doctor will sit down with a patient and explain what the issue is and offer treatment advice and alternatives. Often, the patient goes home afterward and then and can’t remember exactly what the doctor said. Was it ice, then heat – or heat, then ice? Do you take the new prescription before or after eating? How long should you wait before resuming normal activity? What were the risks and benefits of each treatment option?

What did the Doctor Say?

Anxiety, confusion, or the medical issue itself may affect a person’s ability to remember and understand what transpired during a doctor’s appointment. This is especially true if the medical condition being discussed is complex and/or many treatment options are offered.

Patients may turn to recording their conversations during doctor visits, either to listen to the recording later to clarify what was said or to share with family members who can help them make an informed healthcare decision.

What Does the Law Say About Recording Doctors? Wiretapping Statutes

Researchers from The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice’s Open Recordings Project recently published an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) that discusses the legality of recording medical visits as well as other related issues.

State wiretapping statutes apply when patients’ conversations with physicians are recorded. The key factor in state wiretapping laws involves consent – that is which parties to the conversation need to consent to the recording. In states where all parties need to consent, recordings made without such consent violate the law. In states where only one party needs to consent, a patient can record a conversation with a doctor during an appointment without the doctor’s consent.

Pennsylvania requires the consent of all parties to the conversation before recording. In Pennsylvania, the patient needs the doctor’s consent before recording a conversation taking place during an appointment.

New Jersey requires only the consent of one party to the conversation. In New Jersey, a patient can record conversations during his or her appointment without the doctor’s consent.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act does not apply to recordings made by patients unless they provide that recording to a health care plan or health care practitioner.

Guidelines for Patients Recording Doctor Visits

Because patients are recording their doctor visits more frequently with technology such as smart phones, one of the Open Recordings Project authors, Glyn Elwyn, M.D., stated that it may be time for medical professionals to develop guidelines to protect confidentiality and privacy. Clear guidelines would promote responsible, positive use of open recordings. Guidelines could also address issues such as sharing recordings on social media or with other healthcare providers.