The Pros And Cons Of Malpractice

In this present day and age, medical care is taken for granted and is losing its integrity as the boundaries between Doctor and Patient is becoming dimmer. With the rapid advancement in the science and medical field, there came hundreds of new machines and procedures that are being incorporated into new forms of efficient and safe treatments; however, with these new advancements, the patients would then need to be informed of the risks and benefits of the procedure before they are to undergo any type of treatment. Subsequently, this can cause the patient to feel uncomfortable with some of the procedures that the doctor may suggest due to the side effects and risks that were stated which would then limit the doctor on the type of care he/she

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