Each time patients seek treatment at a hospital, doctor's office or other medical facility, they are required to sign documents related to restrictions and rights under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This act generally gives patients various rights to privacy over their medical information. When physicians breach this act, their behavior may leave them vulnerable to claims of medical malpractice.

Earlier this year, patients' rights were expanded and physicians' responsibilities heightened under HIPAA. In an effort to hold physicians accountable for violations of patient privacy, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a revised and more stringent version of the act.

Overworked, overwhelmed and overtired. These adjectives describe far too many working American adults. They also describe a startling number of American teens. As the recovering economy puts pressure on teens to get into a good college and even to help provide a share of their families' income, they can suffer understandable fatigue under the weight of their responsibilities. And of course, teens tend to be tired anyway due to biological changes and a tendency to stay up far too late for their own good.

All these factors contribute to the fact that teens are at higher risk of dying in car accidents inspired by drowsy driving than any other population of drivers. According to a recently released survey conducted by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, a minimum of one in seven drivers between the ages of 16 and 24 has fallen asleep at the wheel within the last year.

When patients are discharged from hospitalization, they may generally assume that all test results ordered on their behalf have been properly reviewed. However, this may not be an accurate or even a safe assumption. Readers may be surprised to learn that up to half of all medical tests ordered the day of patient discharge are not reviewed by doctors, according to a recently published Australian study.

The study indicates that of all the tests unread at the time patients are discharged, 47 percent are tests ordered the same day as discharge, and 41 percent of unread tests have yet to be reviewed two months post discharge. These tests often provide important information about serious medical conditions that may have been diagnosed or have yet to be diagnosed.

Commercial carriers have the power to set the policies for how and when their drivers may use handheld devices while operating their vehicles. Current Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) laws ban texting and the use of handheld cellphones while driving, but some carriers require or allow drivers to continue to text or talk on their handheld cellphones during their driving shifts. Carriers may be held liable for infractions that they inspire or allow to occur.

The FMCSA ban against texting while driving, which was issued in 2010, applies to all commercial bus and truck drivers. In addition, late last year the FMCSA proposed a ban against the use of all handheld cellphones while driving for commercial bus and truck drivers. This ban became effective at the beginning of this year and impacts more than four million commercial drivers, as well as their carriers.