Legal aspects of laboratory medicine

Societal expectations of modern laboratory medicine will engender increasing scrutiny about the accuracy of laboratory data, the timeliness of performing laboratory tests, and the transmission of the results. Laboratorians who understand basic medicolegal principles applicable to laboratory medicine will be comfortable at the interface between law and medicine, and likely will practice acceptable laboratory medicine. Good medicine is good law. The authors divide their discussion into four parts: accountability for laboratory services, quality and risk in laboratory management, forensic evidence in the laboratory, and testimony by clinical laboratory personnel.