1. Bums, Malpractice Suits in American Medicine before the Civil War, 43 Bull. Hist. Med. 41, 52 (1969). But see Bennet, “Pluses of Malpractice Suits,” New York Times Magazine, July 24, 1988, at 31.
2. D. Konoid, A History of American Medical Ethics: 1847–1912 (1962), at 50–51. For contemporary perspectives see Health Care Improvement and Medical Liability (Proceedings of an HHS Research Conference) (Washington, D.C.: HHS, 1988) and A. Holder, Medical Malpractice Law, 2d ed. (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1978).
3. In extremely rare cases, where the entire medical profession or speciality has failed to keep up with medical advances, the courts themselves will define “reasonable prudence.” See, e.g., Helling v. Carey, 519 P.2d 981 (Wash. 1974) (failure to do routine glaucoma test is negligent as a matter of law).
4. Kg., Lab v. Hall 200 So. 2d 556 (Dist. Ct. App. Ha. 1967).
5. Kg., Hill v. Boughton, 146 Ha. 505, 1 So. 2d 610 (1942).