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. 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... ... middle of paper ... ... doctor neglect their patients because it is sometimes very difficult to notice it. Even the best physicians have committed malpractice on their patients, but people believe that it is because of poor communication. Scientists believe there are ways that will help you with prevent malpractice from happening to you or another doctor. One way would be to do your homework and pay attention in class. Communicate with your patient, talk to them about their day or what they are like. Lastly, one of the most important ways would be to listen and learn from your patient. Understand what they are speaking to you about because it may have to do with your health. These are some great ways to prevent malpractice and everyone should follow this no matter what kind of job because it always helps to communicate, listen, and learn from your client, patient, or business partner.
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….
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...
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).
He said, “Studies of specific types of error, too, have found that repeat offenders are not the problem. The fact is that virtually everyone who cares for hospital patients will make serious mistakes, and even commit acts of negligence, every year. For this reason, doctors are seldom outraged when the press reports yet another medical horror story. They usually have a different reaction: This could be me. The important question isn’t how to keep bad physicians from harming patients; it’s how to keep good physicians from harming patients” (658). Like Gawande asked—how do you keep good physicians from harming patients? Even the best of doctors and surgeons manage to make mistakes that led to being sued or even worst—they get to experience the death of their
Negligence and malpractice are terms that many use interchangeably, but the meanings are very different. Healthcare is one practice that has been in existence for centuries whether informally or formally. Since the first birth of any kind, the nurturing and caring of each other man or beast utilized the methods available to restore or maintain life. Since the 19th century, instructional school for nursing was established, streamlining the institution of health care today. In the previous centuries, caring for the sick was not the industry we know today. One did not worry about negligence and malpractice lawsuits, but today one has to be knowledgeable and aware of the implications of both negligence and malpractice in the 20th century practice of healthcare. This paper will explore the difference between negligence, and malpractice, and what one can do as humanly possible, to avoid being the subject of either. It will explore the importance of accurate and adequate documentation and how important it is for nurses to maintain Professional
According to Poorolajal, medical errors occur when health care providers choose inappropriate methods of care or improperly execute an appropriate method of care (Poorolajal, et al. para 5 -10), which could potentially lead to loss of life and severe or permanent trauma to the victim. Valiani et al. argues, “Committing an error is part of the human nature” (540). Valiani et al. insist that no health care practitioner is immune to committing an error event if they demonstrate mastery of their skills (540). However, error in health care systems is dependent on many causes and factors. Management of such factors is essential to reducing the occurrence of errors in a health care system. Therefore, what strategies can medical practitioners implement to reduce medical errors? Medical practitioners can implement strategies such as communication, verification, and eliminating extended work shifts. These strategies are most effective because they help medical providers fulfill their full potential in doing their job in the most effective
For healthcare providers, there is no word that elicits as much frustration, fear and anger as much as the word “malpractice.” Medical malpractice is defined as any act or omission by a physician during treatment of a patient that deviates from accepted norms of practice in the medical community and causes an injury to the patient. Medical malpractice is a specific subset of tort law that deals with professional negligence. In order to prove that there was some type of negligence going on you must show that:
Medical malpractice occurs when a doctor or healthcare medical professional makes a mistake that causes serious injury, physical or mental harm or death. Legally, it is considered medical malpractice when a doctor fails to comply with a reasonable standard of care. It is a form of negligence that applies to those in the medical profession. Tragically, a doctor’s mistake can have severe, or even deadly, consequences for trusting patients and their families.
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.
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
Physicians and their advisors would do well to spend time with the entire Code and, especially, the Opinions and the professional papers and articles referred to in the annotations to them. The American Medical Association promulgates a Code of Ethics which includes several components, including very brief statements of general “Principles of Medical Ethics” and “Fundamental Elements of the Patient-Physician Relationship.”
Medical professionals have numerous motives behind malpractice, and there is little logic to it. It is simply insane how a doctor’s sole job is to help the unhealthy, but some doctors take advantage of that privilege. Patients trust doctors, to break such trust, is the ultimate betrayal.
A medical error is not reasonably expected result of normal course of action, unsafe practice of medicine, or an outcome that was not anticipated. Medical errors can happen everywhere in the hospital, here are some examples; a patient on a low-salt diet given a high salt meal, treating the wrong patient, surgical equipment, being left inside the body during surgery, and even wrong site surgery. Errors also happen when doctors and their patients have problems communicating. For example, a recent study supported by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) found that doctors often do not do enough to help their patients make informed decisions (Saintsing 354). Uninvolved and uninformed patients are less likely to accept the doctor 's choice of treatment and less likely to do what they need to do to make the treatment work (Saintsing 356,357). Errors are all too frequent in medicine, Building a Safer Health System estimated that as many as 98,000 deaths, due to a medical error, occurs in the United States (Laure 770).
Things such as doctors getting enough sleep can make a huge difference in the decision making process. Hospital put doctors on 24 hour call, depriving them of the sleep they need in order to make a sound choice. Imagine if you did not sleep all night and had a huge test in the morning. How well would you perform under very minimal sleep? Another precaution is to make a checklist. In a lot of profession they make checklist in order to ensure that everything is done and done correctly and doctors are finally catching on to the trend. Another they are making an effort to minimize mistakes is by asking questions more than once. Asking things like “what is your birthday” and “what medicine are you allergic too” can help doctors remember
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.