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In this article we discuss the medical diagnoses underlying the most common lawsuits involving pediatricians in the United States. Where applicable, specific and general risk-management techniques are noted as a means of increasing patient safety and reducing the risk of medical malpractice exposure.

Initiatives intended to reduce the frequency and impact of medical errors generally rely on recognition and disclosure of medical errors. However, fear of malpractice liability is a barrier to physician disclosure. Some U.S. state legislatures have attempted to encourage physicians to disclose medical errors by enacting "apology laws." The authors reviewed the codified statutes of each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia to determine the prevalence and characteristics of such apology laws. They found that many states have recently adopted apology laws and that there is variability in these laws. The authors review some of the important differences in these laws and explore the potential impact of apology laws.

To describe pediatric emergency department use by adults with chronic pediatric disorders, known as transition patients. Design: Retrospective descriptive study. Setting: The pediatric emergency department of a tertiary care pediatric hospital during calendar year 2005. Participants: All patients presenting to the pediatric emergency department during the study period. Main Outcome Measures: Association of presenting complaint with the patient's chronic pediatric disorder, emergency department interventions and dispositions, and duration of inpatient admissions. Results: Patient encounters totaled 43 621, with 445 (1%) involving adult patients. Transition patients accounted for 197 (44%) of the adult encounters. Eighty-nine transition patient encounters (45%) were for complaints un