Did you know that in Virginia and Maryland you can give oral advance directives about your health care treatment, but that in D.C. it’s useless unless it’s in writing? Or that in Maryland, any malpractice claim above a nominal amount must be filed with an administrative arbitration office before you can file suit, but in D.C. and Virginia you can go straight to the courthouse?  

For consumers in and around Washington, D.C., understanding the various laws governing health care can be just one more headache.   But now there is a resource that can inform consumers of their legal rights, and help lawyers guide clients through the morass.

Compiled and published by the Health Law Section of the District of Columbia Bar, The Patient Rights Manual - A Companion Guide for the Legal Practitioner is a sorely needed reference book. It will help lawyers and health care consumers alike in trying to make sense of the multiple sets of health-related laws and regulations a resident of the D.C. metropolitan area can confront.

The Companion Guide covers current federal and state laws in more than twenty subject areas, including chapters on:

• Advance Directives
• HIV and AIDS
• Health Insurance
• Workers’ Compensation

The Companion Guide also discusses applicable legal principles and offers citations to relevant statutes, regulations and case law.

Winner of the award for Best Section Community Outreach Project at the D.C. Bar’s 2005 Annual Business Meeting and Awards Dinner, the Companion Guide costs $35 for Health Law Section members and $55 for non-Section members.

To purchase a copy, visit the Sections Publications web page at www.dcbar.org/for_lawyers/sections/publications.cfm, or write to:

D.C. Bar Sections Office, 1250 H Street, NW, Sixth Floor, Washington, DC 20005. Requests may also be submitted by email to sections@dcbar.org.