JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association
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--To evaluate the usefulness of malpractice claims data for identifying (1) physicians who are prone to negligent errors and (2) physician and hospital characteristics associated with particular kinds of errors. ⋯ --Use of physicians' malpractice claims histories to target individuals for education or sanctions is problematic because of the only modest predictive power of such claims histories.
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Editorial Comment
To thwart the tobacco companies. It's every physician's responsibility.
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--To determine the ability of ultrasonography to detect appendicitis and to identify other conditions responsible for symptoms in children with acute abdominal pain. ⋯ --Approximately half of children referred for suspected appendicitis will have a final diagnosis of abdominal pain of unknown origin. In the remainder, ultrasonography is useful, both to establish the diagnosis of appendicitis and to aid in diagnosing other causes of acute abdominal pain.