Litigation packets help lawyers handle new twists in med-mal cases.

Medical negligence is no longer limited to claims against physicians. Today, claims also arise from the acts of nurses, technicians, and other health care providers.

The AAJ Exchange's newest litigation packet, "Nursing Errors in Hospitals," as well as other popular packets in the medical negligence series, offer members documents, analysis, and strategies to assess and litigate cases of medical negligence in a variety of settings.

The nurse's expanded role in patient care, continuous development of sophisticated medical technology, and heightened emphasis on nursing as a profession have thrust nurses into positions of increased accountability. Plaintiff lawyers confronting negligence in hospitals must consider whether nursing negligence contributed to the client's injuries. This litigation packet explores issues of hospital and physician liability for nursing negligence, nursing standards of care, nurse depositions, causation, nurse practice acts, and litigation strategies and techniques.

The Exchange medical negligence series also addresses physician negligence in various settings. For example, "Proving Causation in Complex Birth Injury Cases: Shoulder Dystocia" explores obstetrical standard-of-care issues regarding diagnosis of shoulder dystocia and prevention of fetal trauma. Another packet, "Failure to Diagnose Breast Cancer," focuses on complex questions of causation, standards of care, loss of chance for cure, staging, and life expectancy in breast cancer cases.

For more information on litigation packets, log on to the Exchange at www.justice.org/exchange and click on "Litigation Packets," or call the Exchange at [phone].