Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
The malpractice mess summary
The malpractice mess summary
The malpractice mess summary
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
The Medical Malpractice Myth is a book by Tom Baker that discusses the research findings relating to medical malpractice. Baker’s purpose for writing this piece is to reveal the discrepancies between people’s perceptions of the myth and its realities. He questions whether or not malpractice lawsuits or medical malpractice itself is the problem. Baker argues that disputes presented in the medical malpractice myth are not the issues that people should be concerned about. Throughout the book, Baker compares medical malpractice incidents to other circumstances that could require litigation. He cites, To Err Is Human, which examines medical malpractice versus auto and workplace accidents and finds that 100,000 people die from medical malpractice …show more content…
In his first key concept, he clarifies that medical malpractice itself is a much bigger problem than the few lawsuits it results in. For the amount of malpractice that goes on, the number of lawsuits being filed is very low. He also discredits the recent “surge” in malpractice suits as being an effect of large insurance premiums. Insurance prices have a continual “boom-and-bust” cycle which is why premiums can fluctuate from high to low (Baker 45). Baker then provides evidence against the assumption that patients will sue for the most insignificant details and cause doctors and hospitals time and money. Many distressed medical malpractice victims and their families simply want to get to the bottom of what happened to them or their loved one and drop suits if there is evidence of no wrong …show more content…
These lawsuits can bring to light malpractice that may be taking place and also contribute information that would not be available otherwise. Baker then proves that defensive medicine is not a leading cause of high health care costs in the United States. He maintains that defensive medicine has very little impact on the health care system and many other extraneous procedures cost much more. Lastly, Baker disputes the fact that an abundance of malpractice lawsuits and high insurance costs are prohibiting Americans from receiving the care they need. He discredits this by clarifying that the number of doctors in practice today is higher than ever before. Baker also advocates for research-based reform to make getting information easier for both parties
In the healthcare industry, medical malpractice has a history that extends way beyond the days of physicians carrying a black bag full of medication and remedies to treat patients. Health care has since evolved to digital technology that can detect and treat disease. However, before physicians had advanced machinery making medical diagnosis, doctors had their textbooks and medical judgment to rely on for treatment. Physicians are human and medical mistakes can happen, but should not happen due to negligence. With that said, medical malpractice lawsuits are not the latest trend in the United States. According to the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health, medical malpractice lawsuits first appeared in the United States beginning in the 1800s. However, before the 1960s, legal claims for medical malpractice were rare, and had little impact on the practice of medicine. Since the 1960s the frequency of medical malpractice claims has increased; and today, lawsuits filed by aggrieved patients alleging malpractice by a physician are relatively common in the United States.
Explain the issue or dilemma using information from the readings in the book and other sources.
Medical error occurs more than most people realize and when a doctor is found negligent the patient has the right to sue for compensation of their losses. Debates and issues arise when malpractice lawsuits are claimed. If a patient is filing for a medical malpractice case, the l...
For example, a case that involves a vascular surgeon, Dr. V, who owns his own practice, was sued for malpractice because the patient had signed the consent form allowing only an angiography, which is a visualization of the patient’s blood vessels pertaining to veins, arteries, and etc., but the surgeon performed an extra procedure, that was approved of by the family’s physician during the screening, due to an irregular lesion that could potentially burst and be detrimental to the patient’s health if it wasn’t attended to immediately. The result of the procedure was successful, but as complications began to occur on the patient’s foot, it would later need to be amputated and resulted in a lawsuit from the family against Dr. V. However, the consent form that the patient had initially signed contained a catchall clause, which states, “I also consent to and authorize the performance of such additional procedures as [my physician] deems necessary and appropriate”(Starr, David), and serves as the surgeon’s safeguard from any legal suits in the case of emergency procedures that were deemed necessary during the period of the initial procedure. Nonetheless, the case ended in favor of the patient’s family, based on the idea that the jury believed Dr. V did not need to perform the procedure at the time. This case is one of many examples of where the good intentions of a health-care professional are being punished because of legal issues and unknown health complications. The consent form was the main issue in this case, as the conditions were not clear to both sides of the party of what was appropriate and what was
Tort reformers believe that courts must reduce the ability of defendants’ liability in order to avoid economic decline. In the years to come, the proposals likely to generate the biggest dispute include malpractice and class-action reform, limits on noneconomic and punitive damages, and a legislative solution to asbestos legation (Rushmann, 2006). There are many lawsuits. But the frivolous lawsuits should not be taken seriously and not cost our courts and citizens time and/or money.
In his book The Silent World of Doctor and Patient, author Jay Katz describes the history of how physicians view the patient’s role in medical decision making. Particularly, within chapter one, “Physicians and Patients: A History of Silence,” Katz sheds light on the relationship between physicians and their patients and the scope of the physician’s authority.
The act of medical responsibility originated in Rome and England dating back to the time of 2030 BC. The act states that a learned professional should always care with responsibility and care toward their profession. Around the year of 1200 AD, Roman law considered medical malpractice to be wrong and expanded their views about it all throughout Europe. It was said by the Code of Hammibal that if a person commits malpractice knowingly or unknowingly they would lose their job, hand, and an eye. Malpractice had also occurred throughout the U.S around the 19th century, due to the negligence of the state’s governments. Medical malpractice litigation has since been sustained for a century and a half by an interacting combination of 6 principal factors.” “Three of these factors are medical: the innovative pressures on American medicine, the spread of uniform standards, and the advent of medical malpractice liability insurance.” “Three are legal factors: contingent fees, citizen juries, and the nature of tort pleading in the United State.” (Mohr). The U.S is very familiar with malpractice b...
Given the difficulties in the present tort system, we often become victims of the failures of medicine as opposed to beneficiaries of its many successes. Physicians have lost in that they have changed, limited, or closed their practices after having spent the most vigorous years of their lives training for such work. Patients have lost in that the physicians of their choice, with whom they have developed trusting relationships, are no longer available to care for them. It is certain that the system requires sensible reform (p.525).
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.
Rising medical costs are a worldwide problem, but nowhere are they higher than in the U.S. Although Americans with good health insurance coverage may get the best medical treatment in the world, the health of the average American, as measured by life expectancy and infant mortality, is below the average of other major industrial countries. Inefficiency, fraud and the expense of malpractice suits are often blamed for high U.S. costs, but the major reason is overinvestment in technology and personnel.
Rising health care costs have caused a national crisis, and all agree we must embrace reform. President Obama has initiated his national health care plan in the hopes of decreasing some of the inflated costs. When attempting to resolve this issue, one must always address the root of the problem. A large portion of these inflationary costs stem from malpractice lawsuits, and so begins the debate for tort reform: legislation which would cut the costs of health care by reducing the risk of civil litigation and exposure to fraudulent claims (“What”). However, the real factor at hand and the real cause of the industry’s high costs does not come solely from the cost incurred from these lawsuits, but from over-expenditures on the part of doctors, who over-test and over-analyze so as to safeguard themselves from the threat of malpractice lawsuits. Thus, large public support exists for tort reform. While the proposed legislation enacted through tort reform could cut the costs of health care and positively transform the industry, it is ultimately unconstitutional and could not withstand judicial scrutiny.
The breach by a member of a profession of either a standard of care or a standard of conduct. The typical malpractice deals with the tort of negligence by the professional. Negligence is conduct that falls below the legally established standard for the protection of others against unreasonable risk of harm. Under negligence law a person must violate a reasonable standard of care (Danzon, 2010).
Physician-Patient Communication: The Relationship with Malpractice Claims Among Primary Care Surgeons and Physicians. Medico-Legal Journal, (277), 553-5598. Retrieved from http://mlj.sagepub.com
In today’s health care, there are laws set in place to protect the well-being and best interest of the patient. These laws range from tort laws, criminal laws, and contract laws. Although each of these laws are set in place to protect the patient to a certain degree of wrongdoing on the physicians and medical facilities part, they can be distinguished by which one affects health care professionals directly compared to indirectly. In this paper, I will discuss the Tort Law, the law that most directly influences Health Care Professionals.
Many medical malpractice suits would always point out negligence of a physician exhibited during the course of treatment which led to a damage. However, not only the physicians are held liable on these particular situations but also the institution the physician has practiced. It has always been a part of a medical malpractice case to question if a certain institution that a physician works at should be also liable of the damages made. Most of the time, in order to prove that hospitals are also accountable, Doctrine of Apparent Authority is applied.