The gradual transformation of hospitals in the United States is a testament to the commitment to caring for patients regardless of ability to pay in unison with advancing medical technology and related costs. The modernization of hospitals into large corporations led to diminished forbearance from pursuit of legal remedies by patients injured by physician negligence. As hospitals developed, their immunity dissolved, and courts applied vicarious liability theories against hospitals for physician negligence. Beginning with respondeat superior, courts later included agency theories of agency by estoppel, apparent agency, and eventually, nondelegable duty. Minnesota courts followed this general trajectory but were slower to apply apparent authority than many other states.
Continue reading “Apparent Authority: Minnesota Finally Rejects Categorical Exemption for Independent Contractors in Hospital Emergency Rooms and Signifies Potential for Nondelegable Duty Doctrine- Popovich v. Allina Health Sys., 946 N.W.2D 885 (MINN. 2020).”Tag: Health Care
Was Justice Ginsburg Roe-Ght?: Reimagining U.S. Abortion Discourse in the Wake of Argentina’s Marea Verde
Although she died a stalwart progressive icon, during her 1993 United States Supreme Court confirmation hearings, many liberals were initially skeptical of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s commitment to upholding Roe. The cause for concern originated in comments that then-Circuit Judge Ginsburg made on April 6, 1984, during the William T. Joyner Lecture on Constitutional Law at University of North Carolina School of Law. Without a doubt, Justice Ginsburg strongly supported the right to abortion, but even after she was confirmed to the high court, she repeatedly provided critical commentary about the decision in Roe and the impact it had on the abortion debate in the United States.
Continue reading “Was Justice Ginsburg Roe-Ght?: Reimagining U.S. Abortion Discourse in the Wake of Argentina’s Marea Verde”Can Employers Mandate the COVID Vaccine?: Assessing the Implications of Emergency Use Authorization
Isaac Mamaysky is a Partner in the national Employment Law and Human Resources practice of Potomac Law Group PLLC. He is also an adjunct professor of law at Albany Law School, where he teaches at the intersection of employment law, management, and human resources.
Continue reading “Can Employers Mandate the COVID Vaccine?: Assessing the Implications of Emergency Use Authorization”Navigating the Legal Challenges of COVID-19 Vaccine Policies in Private Employment: School Vaccination Laws Provide a Roadmap
COVID-19 created unprecedented challenges for private employers in the United States. Employers—many of whom were technologically unprepared—were forced to rapidly adapt from their on-site operations to a virtual environment supported by fully-remote employees. That, in addition to staying abreast of ever-evolving executive orders, new legislation and regulations, COVID-19 guidelines from federal and state public health officials, and straining to provide a host of flexible accommodations to employees with concerns about workplace safety and exposure to COVID-19. With several COVID-19 vaccines now available to the public, many of these challenges may soon be in the rearview. At least the hope is that continued distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine to the public at-large will bring herd-immunity and a return of normalcy to the American workplace.
Continue reading “Navigating the Legal Challenges of COVID-19 Vaccine Policies in Private Employment: School Vaccination Laws Provide a Roadmap”Transgender Healthcare is Medically Necessary
Americans have dueling and irreconcilable expectations of the healthcare industry. On the one hand, they believe that access to healthcare should be an affordable and accessible entitlement—their privilege as American citizens. On the other hand, when Americans seek treatment, they expect it to be flawless—they demand the best physicians and the best care centers.
However, since the passage of the Medicare legislation in 1965, Americans have been unable to agree on how people should receive healthcare and who should receive it. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA), known as “Obamacare,” is the latest healthcare fix. In response, Americans elected Republican Donald Trump—who ran on repealing “Obamacare”—to the presidency just six years later. Now, especially as the COVID-19 pandemic exposes many of the failures within the current United States healthcare systems, Americans are once again debating healthcare and asking, “what should this look like?” Should the federal government create universal single-payer healthcare plans? Or would it be better to cut Medicare and Medicaid spending and reduce the number of insured?
Continue reading “Transgender Healthcare is Medically Necessary”Covid-19, Abortion, and Public Health in the Culture Wars
When I was asked to write an article on the restrictions that some states sought to impose on abortion access during the Covid-19 pandemic, my initial thought was that the topic would probably be stale before I finished writing the piece. The worry was misplaced. On the one hand, all the restrictions put in place shortly after the pandemic began either expired or were defeated before the summer of 2020—long before the publication of this article. But attempts to restrict access to abortion in the United States are evergreen. The topic is continually relevant.
Continue reading “Covid-19, Abortion, and Public Health in the Culture Wars”New Year’s Resolutions: Attorney Wellness
Geri Sjoquist, Hamline Class of 2002, practices in family law and civil litigation. One of Minnesota Lawyer’s Attorneys of the Year in 2019, Geri has worked as a legal professional for over twenty-five years, primarily at her own firm Sjoquist Law LLC.
The Concept of Interconnectedness
There has been a lot of talk about attorney wellness over the past year. New words and phrases, such as mindfulness, have become commonplace. As we begin 2020, I would like to focus on the concept of “interconnectedness.”
We have all experienced the feeling of malaise that follows from having flu-like physical symptoms, such as fever, fatigue, and nausea. So, the idea that our mental health is woven together with our physical health is not a new concept. This idea of the interconnectedness of our body’s systems was brought to my attention several years ago in a very up-front and personal sort of way.
I was working out at a Crossfit gym at the time and I was finding that after every three to four intense workouts I would experience flu-like symptoms and repeatedly need to spend a few days in bed recovering. This went on for about eight or nine weeks, with my doctor prescribing a new dose of antibiotics with every visit. One day, in addition to flu symptoms, I suffered a very intense earache. The ear, nose, and throat specialist looked in my ear, told me there was nothing wrong with my ear, and asked me if I had a history of migraines. I was shocked. How did he know? How did he know that migraines had been lurking in the shadows of my family tree for generations? Furthermore, the specialist told me it was highly likely that I had never actually had the flu.
While we prefer to pretend that our abilities do not fluctuate and we are capable of being on our “A game” at all times, the truth is that no one is capable of such levels of perfection. Even in professions where there is no room for error—like police work or piloting an airliner—there are errors. Even so, as smart as we all like to believe we are, we nevertheless expect and demand nothing less of ourselves. Add to this our hesitancy, as attorneys, to have candid and forthcoming discussions about our cognitive function because of the fear of stigma and incompetency. Why is it so difficult to imagine that our minds—like our bodies—are likely capable of “having the flu” for a couple days and then fully recovering?
This interconnectedness of mind and body was recognized by pre–modern medicine. Ancient Greek, Roman, and Indian Ayurvedic physicians enlisted the theory of the “four humors” in their healing practices.1 They believed that imbalances in these four visible secretions of the body caused disease and were often caused by our emotions.2 Then, in the seventeenth century, French philosopher and mathematician René Descartes attempted to eradicate superstitions. He planted the seeds of rationalism, laying the foundation for a more rigorous and modern scientific thought in his quest to shake and uproot all beliefs not grounded in what could be known with absolute certainty.3 Like Galileo, he sought to overturn what he saw as the prejudices of the day, first promulgated by Aristotle, who placed a great weight on the testimony of the senses, suggesting that all knowledge comes from the senses.4
How Interconnectedness Impacts Our Health
What has been most striking to me has been the realization that we can say very little about what we know for certain regarding stress and disease. Meanwhile, internationally–recognized researcher, Esther M. Sternberg, M.D., has made groundbreaking strides in connecting our central nervous system to our immune system in her book, The Balance Within: The Science Connecting Health and Emotions.5 As professionals, attorneys rank high on the list of those most susceptible to burnout. Many refer to it as compassion fatigue. But this burnout can reveal itself not only as psychological stress, but also physiological, such as a flattened cortisol response and inability to respond to any stress with even a slight burst of cortisol. In other words, chronic unrelenting stress can change the stress response itself. And, it can change other hormone systems in the body as well… the effects can be especially perilous for women—recurring and extended episodes of depression result in permanent changes in bone structure, increasing the risk of osteoporosis. In other words, we register stress literally in our bones.6
In other words, depending on a highly individualistic and complex mix of nature and nurture, our response to our life’s events (whether they be personal or professional) have the potential to permanently change our biology. Some stress can be invigorating, while other stress might be debilitating. This relationship between memory, emotion, and stress is particularly significant in the legal context and attorney culture where mistakes can lead to harsh results. In the legal profession, often a zero–tolerance environment, people are not inclined to come forward and acknowledge their shortcomings when they risk damage to their livelihoods and reputation.
Interconnectedness—mental health and physical health woven together—should therefore not be discounted in the profession. It is important to not disregard how much our wellness determines our ability to do good work.
Resources
For those looking to improve their well-being in 2020, there are numerous resources available.
- The Minnesota Supreme Court has created a web page for lawyer well-being. It includes materials from the Court’s recent Conference, A Call to Action on Lawyer Well-Being.
- Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers (LCL) provides a free, confidential Lawyers Assistance Program for Minnesota lawyers, judges, law students and their immediate family members. This program offers help to those affected by alcohol, drugs and other addictions; depression, anxiety and other mental illnesses; stress and other life-related problems; and any condition which negatively affects the quality of one’s life at work or at home. Call 651-646-5590 to talk to a counselor or visit their website for more information.
The Minnesota State Bar Association (MSBA) has a Committee on Well-Being dedicated to helping lawyers and legal professionals thrive in both their legal careers and personal lives. For more information and to join the committee visit their web page.