Med Law Blog

The Pennsylvania legislature has enacted the attached law, called the "Prohibition of Excessive Overtime in Health Care Act," that is expected to be signed by Governor Rendell. The law prohibits hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, and long-term care providers from requiring nurses and other clinical-care workers to work overtime. This ban excludes doctors, physician assistants, and dentists, as well as other jobs not directly related to patient care. It also contains exceptions for "unforeseeable declared emergencies, a highly usual or extraordinary event that affects healthcare delivery, and unexpected absences that will significantly affect patient safety."

Scott Leah
412-594-5551
sleah@tuckerlaw.com

| Posted By Michael Cassidy In Legal Information | 0 Comments | Permalink

 The Wall Street Journal published an insightful article on Special Needs Planning in its Family Finances Section on October 9, 2008."An Estate Plan Built for Special Needs" highlights the emotional and financial challenges facing parents with special needs children and commonly employed planning methods. Special Needs Planning  and Special Needs Trusts are not limited to family with special needs loved ones, but also to adults who find themselves unexpectedly encountering special needs mid-life, to those who require long term care and to the elderly. In addition to those issues touched upon by the Article, Special Needs Planning often times requires structuring the settlement of personal injury lawsuits and negotiating third party liability liens, and close coordinating with healthcare providers and public benefit agencies.

Tucker Arensberg, P.C. has a capable and dedicated team Special Needs and Estate Planning Team that strategies and advocates on behalf of valued firm clients. Click below to see our unique services: www.medlawblog.com/uploads/file/SNT(1).pdf

Contact Nora E. Gieg at 412-594-3940 and Jamie D. Aul, at
(412) 594-3923 if you have any questions or would like additional information on this topic.

| Posted By Michael Cassidy In Malpractice - Asset Protection , Legal Information | 0 Comments | Permalink

On September 26, 2008, President Bush signed into law the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 ("ADAAA"). The ADAAA are a significant change to the ADA, designed to reverse rulings handed down by the courts that Congress believed had limited the ADA in ways that were not intended when that landmark legislation was passed.

Perhaps the most important change is the broadening of the scope of whether someone is "disabled." The Supreme Court had held that to be "substantially limited" from performing major life activities required that the person be "severely restricted." The EEOC in its regulations had similarly required that the individual be "significantly restricted." The ADAAA provides that "substantially limited" does not require that the restriction be "significant" or " severe." Instead, it must only be a substantial limitation.

The ADAAA also overturned the Supreme Court's holding that a person with disabilities was not eligible under the ADA if his or her conditions could be mitigated by medication, assistive technology and equipment (such as prosthetics or hearing aids), or learned behavior adaptations. Now, those mitigating measures will not make one ineligible under the ADA.

The ADAAA also attempts, for the first time, to list some "major life activities." Among those now listed are caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, seeing, hearing, eating, sleeping, walking, standing, lifting, bending, speaking, breathing, learning, reading, concentrating, thinking, communicating and working. It also lists what are "major bodily functions," to include the immune system, normal cell growth, digestive, bowel, bladder, neurological, brain, respiratory, circulatory, endocrine and reproductive functions.

The "regarded as" disabled provision of the ADA has also been significantly broadened. An individual must now only have to dhow that the employer perceived him or her as having a mental or physical impairment, whether or not that impairment limits or is perceived to limit a major life activity.

For employers, there are both short and long term changes that must be made because of the passage of the ADAAA. In the short term, most employers will need to have their ADA policies (often contained in employee handbooks) amended to reflect the changes in the laws. In the long term, employers will have to be prepared to engage in the interactive process, and make reasonable accommodations, to a broader range of employees or fact potential ADA liability.

Scott R. Leah
412-594-5551
sleah@tuckerlaw.com
 

| Posted By Michael Cassidy In Legal Information | 0 Comments | Permalink

An Appellate Court in Tennessee recently held that a medical practice can enforce a medical noncompete agreement with a certified orthotist who took a job with a competitor due to the protectable interest that the practice had in the training that they provided to the employee who then acquired a specialized skill.  The Court also found that the practice had an interest in protecting the relationships it had with its patients and preventing the orthotist from taking them with him to the new practice.

This opinion shows the value of having a well written physician noncompete agreement, that specifically sets forth what the practice's protectable interest is and has both sides agree that the practice has an interest in protecting the same.


Scott Leah
412-594-5551
sleah@tuckerlaw.com

| Posted By Michael Cassidy In Legal Information | 0 Comments | Permalink

The American Health Law Association has just published its revised Peer Review Hearing Guide Book.  Mike Cassidy is one of five co-authors, the others being Patricia Hofstra, Steven Schnier, Ann O'Connell and Al Adelman, the last two of whom were co-editors.

Mike was also reappointed as the Chair of the American Health Lawyers Association Medical Staff Credentialing and Peer Review ("MSCPR") practice group. 

| Posted By Michael Cassidy In Legal Information | 0 Comments | Permalink