It was rightly said by Richard Seizer “If people understood that doctors weren't divine, perhaps the odor of malpractice might diminish.” For a patient, the doctor is like God. And, the almighty can never commit any mistake but that is what the patient thinks or believes. In reality, doctors are human beings. And, to err is human. Doctors may commit a mistake, but committing a mistake due to one’s own carelessness is defined as negligence. The Black law dictionary definition of negligence “conduct, whether of action or omission, which may be declared and treated as negligence without any argument or proof as to the particular surrounding circumstances, either because it is in violation of statue or valid municipal ordinance or because it is …show more content…
Since no man is perfect in this world, it is evident that a person who is skilled and has knowledge over a particular subject can also commit mistakes during his practice. Too err is human but to replicate the same mistake due to one’s carelessness is negligence. The fundamental reason behind medical error or medical negligence is the carelessness of the said doctors or medical professionals it can be observed in various cases where reasonable care is not taken during the diagnosis, during operations, sometimes while injecting anesthesia …show more content…
Existence of legal duty: Whenever a layman approaches a person who possess certain skill, or knowledge, the other party is then under an implied legal duty to act in such a manner so as to protect that person to his greatest effort and extent. The medical profession is one such section of society on which such a duty has been imposed in the strictest sense. Every time a patient visits a doctor for his ailments he does not enter into any written contract for care, but there is an implied contract and any lack of proper care can make the erring doctor liable for breach of professional duty. And if the doctor is incompetent to perform his duty it accounts for
A dentist fits several children with braces. The children are regular patients of the dentist. The results for some of the patients turn out to be unacceptable and damaging. There are children who have developed gum infections due to improperly tightened braces. Some mistakenly had their permanent teeth removed, while others have misaligned bites. A local attorney becomes aware of these incidences, looks further into it, and realizes the dentist has not been properly trained and holds no legal license to practice dentistry or orthodontics. The attorney decides to act on behalf of the displeased patients and files a class action lawsuit. The attorney plans to prove the dentist negligent and guilty of dental malpractice by providing proof using the four D’s of negligence. The four D’s of negligence are duty, dereliction, direct cause and damages.
A series of events unfolded when George, running late for class, parked his car on a steep section on Arbutus drive and failed to remember to set the parking brake. The outcome of not remembering to set the parking brake caused many issues resulting in scrapping a Prius, breaking through fencing, people on the train sustaining injuries, and finally a truck that jack-knifed and caused a 42-car pileup. Could the parties that were injured, from George’s actions, be recovered from under the negligence theory? To understand if George is negligent, it is best to look at the legal issue, the required elements of negligence, the definition and explanation of each element of the case, and finally to draw a conclusion to determine if George is negligent.
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) reported in 1999 that between 44,000 and 98,000 people die each year in the United States due to a preventable medical error. A report written by the National Quality Forum (NQF) found that over a decade after the IOM report the prevalence of medical errors remains very high (2010). In fact a study done by the Hearst Corporation found that the number of deaths due to medical error and post surgical infections has increased since the IOM first highlighted the problem and recommended actions to reduce the number of events (Dyess, 2009).
Not only do health care providers have an ethical implication to care for patients, they also have a legal obligation and responsibility to care for the patient. According to the Collins English dictionary, a duty of care is ‘the legal obligation to safeguard others from harm while they are in your care, using your services or exposed to your activities’. The legal definition takes it further by making it a requirement that a person act towards others and the public with watchfulness, attention, caution and prudence which a reasonable person in the circumstances would use. If a person’s actions fail to meet the required standard, then the acts are considered negligent (Hill and Hill, 2002). If a professional fails to abide to the standard of practice for their practice in regards to their peers, they leave themselves open to criticisms or claims of breach of duty of care, and possibly negligence. Negligence is comprised of five elements: (1) duty, (2) breach, (3) cause in fact, (4) proximate cause, and (5) harm. Duty is defined as the implied duty to care/provide service, breach is the lack thereof, cause in fact must be proven by plaintiff, proximate cause means that only the harm caused directly causative to the breach itself and not additional causation, and harm is the specific injury resultant from the breach.
It is true that as medical students we may never have to make decisions regarding the treatment plan of patients and that we will always be supervised when carrying out procedures. The chances of inflicting harm on patients is quite slim as a result of this but in the rare cases that it happens we should abide the duty of candour and inform our supervisors immediately. Since the role of a medical student is quite trivial in a multi disciplinary it is often the responsibility of the team leader to inform the patient of the error (4). When working in groups in medical school if we make a mistake or fail to do something that was expected of us to do we must not hesitate to own up to it. These are the situations in which we can develop the quality of candour before walking in to clinics and hospitals as
...y are uncomfortable with. They should be able to make decisions based upon their moral groundings and training not just a response to life limb or eyesight. Doctors should never be forced into a “God Complex”, a feeling of superiority and self-indulgence based on the assumption that they control life and death, and is experienced by a multitude of doctors struggling with ethics and moral fiber along with the rules and regulations aforementioned therein.
When a driver runs a red light and no accident occurs, the driver is still negligent, even though no one got hurt. Similarly, a doctor or other health care professional might deviate from the appropriate medical standard of care in treating a patient, but if the patient is not harmed and their health is not impacted, that negligence won’t lead to a medical malpractice case.
Hospital medical errors can involve medicines (e.g., wrong drug, wrong dose, bad combination), an inaccurate or incomplete diagnosis, equipment malfunction, surgical mistakes, or laboratory errors. High medical error rates with serious consequences occurs in intensive care units, operating rooms, and emergency departments; but, serious errors that harmed patients may have prevented or minimized. Understand the nature of the error
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.
Negligence, as defined in Pearson’s Business Law in Canada, is an unintentional careless act or omission that causes injury to another. Negligence consists of four parts, of which the plaintiff has to prove to be able to have a successful lawsuit and potentially obtain compensation. First there is a duty of care: Who is one responsible for? Secondly there is breach of standard of care: What did the defendant do that was careless? Thirdly there is causation: Did the alleged careless act actually cause the harm? Fourthly there is damage: Did the plaintiff suffer a compensable type of harm as a result of the alleged negligent act? Therefore, the cause of action for Helen Happy’s lawsuit will be negligence, and she will be suing the warden of the Peace River Correctional Centre, attributable to vicarious liability. As well as, there will be a partial defense (shared blame) between the warden and the two employees, Ike Inkster and Melvin Melrose; whom where driving the standard Correction’s van.
Utilization of the medical field implicitly condones personal safety and well being into the hands of professionals. Diagnosing, treating, and preventing disease is an aspect of medicine that requires a variety of solutions, therefore patient’s are exposed to a greater likelihood of unintentional medical error (http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/info/medicine/). However, with any extreme and intensive field, the risks of error are elevated due to the very nature and purpose of the science. Reporting non-fatal medical errors in the healthcare system is a complicated process for doctors and the facilities of which they represent, but entirely doable and necessary in order to maintain legal and social promises of ethical practice. As priorities within
Doctors, like every other person, are human beings and thus they can make mistakes just like everyone else. However, when a doctor makes a mistake, it is much more serious than a fast food employee messing up your order. Doctors must follow a set of ethical guidelines in order to minimise the amount of mistakes they make. In a perfect world everyone follows the
Atul Gawande suggests that people should not be frowned upon for making mistakes, including doctors. Mistakes are inevitable in any field of study. Doctors have an extremely difficult job; therefore, when they make mistakes, it does not mean they are incompetent or lazy, it simply means they’re human. Doctors should not be castigated for their mistakes, rather they should be welcomed to share them. The mistakes that doctors make cannot be deterred; however, the machines that they use and the policies that are enforced in medical settings can be revised in order to reduce the amount of mistakes
did owe a duty of care to Mrs. Donoghue, in that it was up to them to...
Most medical errors come from human errors. Before defining medical error, we should have a good understanding of human error. As a human in our everyday life we are prone to make mistakes such as using ointment...