Liability in Healthcare Healthcare today has made incredible progress from its humble origins. In the past personal physician-patient relationships was based on the skillful exercise of medical expertise, today the most advanced and complex health care is centered on the hospital ( Chan) Liability for medical negligence has traditionally been focused, in accordance with the cardinal principle of individual responsibility, on the individual physician. However, due to advances and developments in health care technology, organization and funding, the delivery of healthcare continue to evolve, and health care is provided by a variety of healthcare institutions. ( Chan). Healthcare institutions are liable for what happens to patients at their premises. According to Dunn ( 2010), “ A tort is a legal wrong or an act or omission of acting that results in the injury to another”. Medical liability fits into the larger legal field of torts. There …show more content…
According to vicarious liability, in case of a physician’s malpractice, the hospital is held responsible; not because the hospital acted inadequately but it is because the physician is an agent of the hospital (Alvandi,2016) To avoid vicarious liability, hospitals hire physicians as independent contractors, so the physicians are not formal employees and hospitals cannot legally be held responsible for the illegal actions of these independent contractors. However, courts hold hospital responsible for the actions of contracted physicians because patients in a hospital do not choose their physician and are not able to differentiate if a physician is a hospital employee or not. This principle that hospital are responsible for contracted physicians who are not formal employee is known as ostensible agency
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...
In the State of Hawaii, there exists a Medical Liability/Malpractice Joint and Several Liabilities Statute. This allows people to pursue a civil lawsuit against a physician(s) or other health care providers. It allows people to sue for damages in the event of an injury or death as a result of negligent behavior. In order to recover damages, a person must establish the following:
“One of those obligations is that it must exercise a proper degree of care for its patients, and, to the extent that it fails in that care, it should be liable in damages as any other commercial firm would be
Vicarious liability assigns liability for an injury to a person who did not cause the injury but who has a particular relationship to the person who did
Vicarious liability is a common law concept that refers to the liability that arises when one party, such as an employer, is legally liable for the acts or omissions of another party, such as an employee. This is because employers have a duty to take reasonable care for the safety of their employees and those of others who come into contact with them and their business. Does vicarious liability expose businesses to too much liability? In the case study 4.1 (Tardif v. Wiebe), we learned that vicarious liability does not always applied on employers for employee’s wrongdoings.
The tort of negligence is the failure to exercise the standard of care that a reasonable person would exercise in a similar circumstance. Negligent conduct may consist of either an act, or an omission to act when there is a duty to do so. Four elements are required to establish a prima facie case of negligence. The existence of a legal duty to exercise reasonable care, a failure to exercise reasonable care. Cause in fact of physical harm by the negligent conduct; physical harm in the form of actual damages and proximate cause. Which is showing that the harm is within the scope of liability.
Medical malpractice has become a controversial social issue. From a doctor’s standpoint, decisions and preventative actions can alter the medical malpractice lawsuits filed against them. In order to protect their career and professional life medical malpractice insurance is available. Medical professional liability insurance, sometimes known as medical malpractice insurance, is one type of professional liability insurance. “Professional liability refers to liability that arises from a failure to use due care and the standard of care expected from a person in a particular profession, in this case a doctor, dentist, nurse, hospital or other health-related organization” (Brandenburg, 2014).
Providers must act in the best interest of the patient and their basic obligation is to do no harm and work for the public’s wellbeing. A physician shall always keep in mind the obligation of preserving human life. Providers must communicate full, accurate and unbiased information so patients can make informed decisions about their health care. As a result of their recommendations, providers are responsible for generating costs in health care but do not generate the need for those expenses. Every hospital has both an ethical as well as a legal responsibility to provide care, even if the care may be uncompensated.
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...
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.
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….
The Lewis Blackman Case: Ethics, Law, and Implications for the Future Medical errors in decision making that result in harm or death are tragic and costly to the families affected. There are also negative impacts to the medical providers and the associated institutions (Wu, 2000). Patient safety is a cornerstone of higher-quality health care and nurses serve as a communication link in all settings which is critical in surveillance and coordination to reduce adverse outcomes (Mitchell, 2008). The Lewis Blackman Case 1 of 1 point accrued
The hospital under vicarious liability is based on Respondeat Superior (let the master answer) for the negligence actions of its contractors/employees. This is the responsibility of physicians for negligent actions of hospital employees ranging from nurses to x-ray techs. Through Corporate Liability the hospital itself is liable for the negligent actions of its workers.
The nurse’s role in healthcare continues to expand throughout the years. For example, with the new Healthcare Reform Act taking affect, the roles of the health care nurse expand even more, increasing the demands placed on them for the care and treatment of every patient. This has also led to an expansion of legal liability for malpractice. The nurse upholds a close and professional relationship with the patient and has the best advantage of impacting the patient. The nurse holds the utmost responsibility in continuing to be well informed about malpractice, as well as how to avoid a malpractice case or negligence by presenting outstanding patient care in addition to malpractice insurance to protect yourself from an undesirable outcome.
Chapter 19. p413. John G.Fleming [4] P419. Textbook on Torts 8th edition. Michael A.Jones [5] Vicarious Liability for Employers. Andrew Scott-Howman.