• LAW AND MEDICINE – CARRING OUT DOCTORS PRACTICE

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    15 May 2009 /  General health

    He may be out of pocket and he may think the referral practice is ridiculous, but it is the law. No doctor, of course, should ever request such a thing from a colleague.

    Certain notifications are required by law to be made in relation to infectious disease and venereal disease. The doctor is bound to comply with these laws.

    There are laws relating to the issuing of death certificates. There are laws relating to the registration of doctors.

    A doctor is expected to carry out his practice using due care and skill. If he does so and his patient fails to get better or has a reaction to the treatment employed, then the doctor is protected by the law.

    Should a mishap occur and the doctor not use due care and skill, then the patient is protected by the law, and may bring a case for damages against the doctor.

    Fortunately in this country, the whole legal system, the judges, the juries and the solicitors and barristers offering advice, appear to use good sense and reason.

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  • BELL’S PALSY – COMPLICATED PROCEDURE

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    15 May 2009 /  General health

    A small nerve is taken, usually from the foot, and joined from an intact branch of the facial nerve on the other side to the paralysed nerve on the affected side. If it works, the intact nerve supplies motor power to the muscles of both sides.

    A further refinement is to graft small muscles from the foot on to the paralysed muscles as well as a cross-facial nerve graft.

    These intricate procedures have developed with micro-surgery. It may take nine months to assess if these complicated procedures are going to be successful.

    Another approach is to do the simpler static sling as well as the complicated procedure. In this way the appearance is improved immediately and, should the complicated graft not take, a reasonable result is achieved.

    Those who develop Bell’s palsy can take heart from statistics. Almost nine out of 10 will get completely better. Those unfortunate enough to have persistent paralysis can call on the skill of the plastic surgeon to improve their appearance and, perhaps, restore function to the facial muscles.

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