Short Essays Questions
5.1 What is OPM and describe its impact on the development of health law:
5.2 Two orthopedic surgeons have full-time, independent practices in the same medical office building. One of the surgeons has an imaging center in his office with a CT scanner and an MRI, and the other has a physical therapy facility with machines and equipment for PT services. Currently, the first surgeon sends all of his patients needing CT or MRI to his own imaging center, while the second surgeon sends his patients to an imaging center 2 miles away; and the second surgeon sends all his patients needing PT to his own PT facility, while the first doctor sends his PT patients to a center 5 miles away. The first surgeon refers his patients for imaging much more than PT, and the second surgeon refers more of his patients for PT than imaging. The two surgeons would like to work more cooperatively, so that they can share in the two types of ancillary services, but the imaging center is more profitable, so the first surgeon would want to be paid based on his own referrals, rather than an even split. The surgeons are considering (i) jointing into one practice; (ii) each selling their ancillary business to a new jointly-owned entity, (iii) agreeing to have surgeon 1 lease the imaging center to surgeon 2 on a part-time basis, and surgeon 2 lease the PT center to surgeon 1 on a part-time basis, or (iv) agreeing that each will refer to the other, rather than to the imaging center and PT facility across town. Discuss the legal issues you see in their proposed arrangements, as well as any other arrangements you think might be possible.
5.3 A driver for the local Coca-Cola distributor is driving his truck on a stormy day through a construction zone. The contractor working for the city took out a traffic light and replaced it with a 4-way stop, but one of the stop signs blew down. The Coke truck enters the intersection and hits a school bus, which was proceeding through the intersection after having stopped at the intersection. Several children were injured. An inspection after the accident revealed that the school bus had faulty brakes, and that the company that the school district hired to maintain the bus had failed to replace the brakes even though the last inspection indicated that they were dangerously worn. Who, and under what theories of negligence, could the families of the injured students sue?
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