Legal Malpractice Case Medical malpractice occurs when a hospital, an advanced practice nurse, or other healthcare professional causes an injury to a patient through a negligent act of commission or omission, in the area of diagnosis, treatment, or healthcare management. The medical malpractice case reviewed in this paper involved a patient, Yolanda Pinellas, a 21-year-old female student at Ithaca College who was studying to become a music conductor. Yolanda was diagnosed with anal cancer and was admitted to Caring Memorial hospital to receive Mitomycin for her chemotherapy. Standards of care were not followed in the intravenous (IV) administration of vesicant Mitomycin, and there was an IV infiltration of the vesicant. Two weeks after the …show more content…
When the standard of care has not been met, then negligence or breach of duty may be established. Liability is the responsibility for the consequences of one’s act of omission or commission. Liability issues involved in the malpractice action brought by Yolanda Pinnelas against Caring Memorial Hospital consisted of the permanent loss of function and deformity of her third, fourth and fifth fingers. These damages occurred following infiltration of vesicant Mitomycin that was administered intravenously in her hand. Two weeks after the infiltration, Yolanda had necrosis in her hand and this resulted in multiple surgical procedures and consequent permanent loss of function and deformity of her …show more content…
The defendant could argue that he or she did not owe a duty to the plaintiff, that there was no breach of duty, and that injury sustained by the plaintiff was not caused by the breach of duty. (Mello, Studdert, & Kachalia, 2014). Jeffrey Chambers, the assigned nurse, could argue that there was a shortage of staff and he had many other very sick patients he was caring for at the same time. He could also argue that he was working back to back and did not have enough rest before coming back to work. He could also state that he was assigned the responsibility of caring for Yolanda though he was not certified in administering
Medical malpractice has been a controversial issue in the healthcare setting for centuries. Apparently, there are laws to protect patients’ from medical mistakes and errors that are the result of negligence. After researching various laws and medical liability cases based on allegations of negligence, this paper will discuss and provide details on the medical malpractice case of Dorrence Kenneth versus Charleston Community Memorial Hospital. The case analysis will briefly explain information from the beginning to end, including: laws that were violated, codes in the healthcare industry that were breached by the physician and Charlesto...
Nursefinders argues that the causes of action based on respondent superior liability failed because Drummond was a special employee of Kaiser or acted outside the course and scope of her employment. they also asserted that no triable issues listed on Montague’s negligence claim and the lack of cable cause of action precluded a derivative loss of consortium claim.
Explain the issue or dilemma using information from the readings in the book and other sources.
...oper tests would have been performed making it obvious to the nurse that Mr. Ard was in need of further medical treatment. Since the nurse was under employment by the hospital, and she was performing standard work duties, then the hospital would also be liable in the medical malpractice suit.
Medical malpractice lawsuits are an extremely serious topic and have affected numerous patients, doctors, and hospitals across the country. Medical malpractice is defined as “improper, unskilled or negligent treatment of a patient by a physician, dentist, nurse, pharmacist, or other health care professional” (Medical malpractice, n.d.). If a doctor acts negligent and causes harm to a patient, malpractice lawsuits arise. Negligence is the concept of the liability concerning claims of medical malpractice, making this type of litigation part of tort law. Tort law provides that one person may litigate negligence to recover damages for personal injury. Negligence laws are designed to deter careless behavior and also to compensate victims for any negligence.
Malpractice is defined as improper, illegal, or negligent behavior that falls below the professional minimum standard of care or service for a patient or a client, when injury or loss has been suffered by patient or client.(Merriam-Webster) Malpractice happens when you turn a blind eye to the wrongdoing in a healthcare setting, also known as omission. Omission is when you fail at doing something that you have a legal obligation to do.(Merriam-Webster) Malpractice essentially has four parts, duty, breach, damages, and causation. (“The 4 Elements of Medical Malpractice”) Duty, what you owe the patient, as a healthcare professional. Breach, what is owed to the patient when they are breached by the responsible party. Damages,
Day by day medical technology is improving, unfortunately so are cases of nursing malpractice. By understanding the laws that governs nursing practice, it will help the nurse protect client’s rights and reduce the risk of nursing liability (Sommer, 2013, p. 23). It’s usually necessary to prove that the nurse was negligent to prove nursing malpractice. The Joint Commission defines negligence as a “failure to use such care as a reasonably prudent and careful person would under similar circumstances” and malpractice as “improper or unethical conduct or unreasonable lack of skill by a holder of a professional or official position. Sommer defines professional negligence as the failure of a person who has a professional training to act in a reasonable and prudent manner (p. 24).
Medical malpractice is like a virus that spreads contagiously and has been going on for many years. This phenomenon has caused deaths, diseases, and injuries due to the negligence of medical professionals towards their patients. Hospitals are losing their reputation and doctors are losing lots of their money. Usually after the doctor does something wrong, the patient should file a lawsuit against them and the hospital. One way to prevent malpractice is to pick younger doctors who are more careful with what they are doing. Malpractice is an occurrence that should be stopped soon or many injuries could occur to the patient due to the doctor’s negligence.
That is the rising number of negligent acts committed by medical professionals. Failure to follow standard of practice is the leading root cause of the troubles involving malpractice. Failure to assess and monitor the patient, failure to communicate, medication errors, negligent delegation or supervision and failure to obtain informed consent from patients are the top failures leading to malpractice. The American Nurses Association provides scopes and standards that if followed could prevent many of the negligent acts. Duty, Breach of Duty, Foreseeability, Causation, Injury, Damages must be proven for a nurse to be held
Nurses come in direct contact with the patients and their families. Therefore nurses are held liable for their work. Negligence is when nurses fail to perform according to the standard of care that results it any kind of harm, damage or death of a patient. If the patient suffers any of the problems they have a full right to bring legal action against the nurse for negligence. Negligence can be civil or criminal. In this case we can look at RN Manton he has shown negligence with his duty of care towards Mr. Hammett therefore he is liable for his death. We have observed that Manton didn’t follow the hospitals protocol during the desaturation event and treated Mr. Hammett on bases of his own experience. Manton admitted that he had ignored the prescription from Dr Woller in relation to oxygen that indications negligence. This shows he has failed to apply his skill and knowledge in this case He also relied on EN valentine to do all the observation and look after the patient on that shift which shows Manton being irresponsible towards his duty of care. He should have check on Hammett himself and monitored
Medical malpractice cases are difficult for the families who have lost their loved one or have suffered from severe injuries. No one truly wins in complicated court hearings that consist of a team of litigation attorneys for both the defendant and plaintiff(s). During the trial, evidence supporting malpractice allegations have to be presented so that the court can make a decision if the physician was negligent resulting in malpractice, or if the injury was unavoidable due to the circumstances. In these types of tort cases, the physician is usually a defendant on trial trying to prove that he or she is innocent of the medical error, delay of treatment or procedure that caused the injury. The perfect example of being at fault for medical malpractice as a result of delaying a procedure is the case of Waverly family versus John Hopkins Health System Corporation. The victims were not compensated enough for the loss of their child’s normal life. Pozgar (2012) explained….
When evaluating medical malpractice, this can be performed by any healthcare professional. It is easy to classify this to be misdiagnosis, delayed diagnosis, delayed treatment, even not taking the time to evaluate a patient properly. When practicing medicine it is important that all measures be taken when a patient is showing signs of infection or having any adverse reaction to medication. In the case study below this is a prime example of the importance of checking patient progression.
Malpractice is improper, illegal, or negligent professional activity or treatment, by a medical practitioner. Not a lot of people know what malpractice is or how it happens until it's too late and it's already happened to them. The number of medical malpractice suits filed each year in the United States tends to vary but the overall trend is that they are rising.
Generally speaking, negligence, error, incompetence, these are the words commonly associated with malpractice, yet many have no idea what the true definition states. Malpractice can be defined, according to the legal nurse consultant of Independent Medical Evaluations Inc., Jan Parrish (2010), “as a violation of professional duty or a failure to meet a standard of care or failure to use the skills and knowledge of other professionals in similar circumstances.... ... middle of paper ... ...
The article Ethics, Law, and Policy by Anselmi discusses liability which is the obligation that someone has to another person “enforceable by civil remedy or criminal punishment” (pg. 45). Certain protocols are implemented to prevent liability issues, but nurses are still responsible for their own actions. Not only are there patients to deal with but also ethical issues regarding the health of the patient. There are also other types of relationships that summon indirect liability. Not only does the nurse have a relationship with the patient but also between the employer, making the business entity under which the nurse for “also culpable for negligent acts and omissions of the nurse employee” (Anselmi, 2012, pg. 46). This may be the case since the nurse works for a specific department within a hospital. Although at the time that the medical advice was given the nurse's employer was not involved, there is an employee/employer relationship. The manager of the nurse is responsible for her tasks while on duty but since the nurse took the initiative to take her friend’s child as her patient, the manager may also be subject to the