Sleepy docs a liability for hospitals:

PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island: Overworked, sleepy doctors-in-training who hit the road after work are as much a hazard as drunk drivers, a finding that could unleash a wave of lawsuits against US hospitals, a researcher warned. According to a study in this week’s ‘New England Journal of Medicine’, medical interns who worked shifts lasting 24 hours or more were twice as likely to be involved in serious crashes after work than doctors who put in fewer hours. Hospitals, which routinely schedule interns to work double, triple or quadruple shifts, may soon find themselves sued for motor vehicle accidents caused by exhausted staff.