The "lane-keeping technology" Ford is developing will be available on the Ford Fusion and Ford Explorer. The technology's proponents believe the system can save lives; however, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration officials say they are not sure whether the newest vehicle technology deserves their blessings.

The technology will be offered in every state, including North Carolina, and experts say one thing remains certain: Humans still handle unexpected situations better than technology.

Most drivers know, for example, that when a ball rolls into the street, more than likely a child will not be far behind. Auto makers have yet to develop a vehicle with common sense, but this could help drivers who have none, or who easily fall asleep behind the wheel

Source: New York Times, "Trying to nudge drowsy drivers" Randall Stross, Jan. 21, 2012

What if the failure to see and effectively treat the condition is on the part of a younger doctor who has no personal experience with the illness, has never seen it manifested in a patient, and has only heard of it through medical textbooks or the observations of older doctors?

"We're losing the memory of these diseases, and that is a problem," says the author of a recent study on younger doctors' inability to readily spot once-common diseases such as measles, whooping cough and chickenpox. The only experience many new practitioners have ever had with mumps, diphtheria, tetanus or polio has been through reading about them and looking at pictures in older clinical studies.

Some commentators point to a fundamental disconnect between older and younger doctors. The former -- some of who have practiced for decades -- can well remember and thus note quickly the symptoms of illnesses that the latter cannot recognize and know little about.

Sam Katz, a doctor who helped develop the measles vaccine, says that, "Young nurses and doctors, who have not seen these diseases, are not as anxious as they should be."

Or as knowledgeable.

As Katz notes regarding vaccines: "Our greatest success has been our worst enemy."

Source: Chicago Tribune, "Once-common diseases slipping past younger doctors" Lisa Pevtzow, Jan. 18, 2012

Car accident experts note that the study, which gathered data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, as well as additional sources, found that traffic-related deaths decreased by nine percent in states where medicinal marijuana has been legalized.

If true, proponents of more widespread legalization of marijuana could use such research to justify marijuana's reduced safety risk in contrast to alcohol.

Although the research produced from the study failed to provide evidence that marijuana is less impairing than alcohol when driving, it remains a possibility.

Sixteen different states in the United States have legalized medicinal marijuana in some capacity.

North Carolina is not one of them. A bill introduced last year into the North Carolina House of Representatives by three of its members proposed medicinal cannabis supply centers and a registry identification card program. Although the bill passed the first reading in the House, it was killed after it failed to meet a subsequent mandatory deadline.

The research findings were published on the website of the Institute for the Study of Labor.

Source: Huffington Post, "States that legalized medical marijuana saw fewer traffic deaths" Dec. 30, 2011

In that state, and with the strong backing of hospital administrators, doctors and the insurance industry, a law was passed in 2005 imposing an opinion letter requirement on every person filing a malpractice claim.

Views differ strongly on whether that has been fair or positively tweaked the system. Advocates say that the number of malpractice cases has decreased, as have insurance rates.

Opponents concede that case levels have dropped, but that is because state judges have interpreted the law too narrowly, requiring opinion writers to have precisely the same credentials as defendants. When they don't, cases are dismissed.

Moreover, critics -- which include the Center for Justice and Democracy -- say that insurance rates have very little to do with tort reforms. Rather, they owe simply to how insurers are doing in the general economy.

A recent article from the Insurance Claims Journal states that the overly narrow opinion letter mandate has had "the unintended consequence in many cases of keeping seemingly legitimate lawsuits out of Connecticut's court system."

Other states -- such as Ohio, Washington, Oklahoma and Arkansas -- have declared such letter requirements unconstitutional.

Source: Claims Journal, "Connecticut law nixing legitimate malpractice lawsuits" Dave Collins, Jan. 10, 2012

Unfortunately, emergency rooms are becoming more and more infrequent. Since 1991, hospitals have shut down more than one quarter of all emergency rooms in the United States. The combination of fewer emergency room facilities with more and more patients is creating an overcrowding problem in North Carolina and across the nation.

Overcrowding can lead to carelessness in care, and that can lead to medical malpractice. Potential problems such as surgical errors, improper diagnosis, wrong medications, hospital-induced infections and inadequate supervision are going to increase as the problem of overcrowding grows.

Litvak believes that the root of overcrowding begins with improper staff management, such as inefficient scheduling of patients for elective care. Hospitals tend to schedule surgeries around the surgeon's schedule, and on those days the emergency room gets backed up due to not having enough beds.

A smoother schedule that has surgeries evenly distributed throughout the week creates a far better patient flow and makes emergency room care far more predictable and manageable. Better leadership, planning and organization will help limit emergency room overcrowding and will ultimately lead to better patient care and treatment.

Source: Philadelphia Inquirer, "Engineering a cure for hospital inefficiencies" Mark Taylor, Dec. 30, 2012

Stories are beginning to surface with regularity regarding the role played by mobile devices in physicians ultimately committing medication errors, making surgical mistakes and engaging in other acts or omissions that lead directly to patient harm.

The result: The patient continued receiving the drug, which resulted in open-heart surgery to attend to spontaneous bleeding.

The new mobile technologies are clearly here to stay, and many medical professionals say that they make things easier and more convenient for them.

Many are wary, though, including medical school professors and supervisors of young doctors who grew up in the digital age and have come to rely heavily on technological aids. The oft-cited mantra that attaches to most discussions concerning doctors and mobile devices is finding the right balance for using the devices.

The need to do so is becoming increasingly important, with a recent study indicating that doctors are interrupted about five times every working hour by emails, cell phone calls and other face-to-face distractions.

Source: American Medical News, "Doctors have to manage smartphone distractions" Kevin B. O'Reilly, Jan 2, 2011