Is there a definitive standard? 

We’re sitting here at the EPM booth counting down the minutes to the end of the ACEP Scientific Assembly.   The last 24 hours have been a whirlwind of ideas and connections. Here's a brief highlight:

Join EPM on the ACEP floor as we bring 

in real time.

Day One: Swimming upstream 

From hypothermia to dermatology, a preview of some of ACEP’s finest offerings during the ‘07 Scientific Assembly.

 

As the election season starts to heat up more than a few Presidental wannabees are starting to talk about universal access to health care.  It starts with the government paying for all children.  Who could argue with that?  But then it goes on to real issue.  Why not just have the government pay for everyone?  It would seem to be to my advantage.  But would it?

Here we are, day one of Emergency Physicians Monthly's web log project. It was only a matter of time, really; this is the perfect medium for the kind of free dialogue that has always been our mission. EPM is published by a small, single-title publishing house and our editorial is built around your feedback. We are the little guy, the independent mom-and-pop corner store, but we've got big ideas. And with your help, we believe that we can bring more accountability, and eventually some positive change, to emergency medicine.

a Peer-Review of Expert Witness Testimony

The Case

A patient with a history of alcoholism was brought to the emergency department by ambulance after falling five days earlier. After the fall, the patient experienced significant back pain and had been laying on a mattress in his basement. His physical examination was significant for superficial bed sores and back tenderness. His neurologic status was intact, although there is testimony that the patient developed increasing weakness in one leg before he left the ED. Spinal X-rays and CT showed fractures of the posterior body and posterior element of L1, the transverse processes of L2 and L3, and a fracture of T12 with moderate distraction of fracture fragments. The X-rays also showed findings consistent with ankylosing spondylitis.