Medicolegal issues

The legal landscape in dermatology is constantly evolving. Dermatologists should nurture strong physician-patient relationships with proper informed consent and stay abreast of legal issues as they pertain to today’s practice of medicine. Medicolegal issues that have risen to the forefront include wrong-site surgery, delegation of procedures to nonphysician operators, and compounding of medications. Additionally, although the marriage of health care and technology has facilitated our practice of medicine, it has opened doors to new medicolegal pitfalls associated with the use of electronic medical records, teledermatology, and even social media. This contribution will highlight some of the common medicolegal issues in dermatology along with recommendations to minimize exposure to litigation.