Iturralde v. Hilo Medical Center (HMC) is a medical malpractice case brought about by a representative for the Estate of Arturo Iturralde. The plaintiff, Rosalind Iturralde, is suing both HMC and Dr. Ricketson individually and as a representative for Arturo Iturralde’s Estate. The Defendants are HMC, Medtronic Sofamor Danek and Robert Ricketson, M.D. This case was brought about as a result of gross negligence and malpractice on the parts of HMC and Dr. Ricketson. During spinal surgery on January 29, 2001, Dr. Ricketson implanted a portion of a stainless steel, surgical screwdriver shaft into the spine of Aurturo Iturralde. This screwdriver shaft was not intended or approved for human implantation. HMC staff failed to inventory the surgical …show more content…
Without clarifying the instruction, it was suggested that if the behavior is not what a reasonable person would consider to be a “normal consequence” of the situation created by defendant's conduct, then said intervening act is a superseding cause. Consequently, it does not convey the relevant standard—whether the probability of harm is “sufficiently serious that a reasonable and prudent person would take precautions to avoid it.” (Iturralde, 2013) This language made is favorable for the jury to consider Dr. Ricketson’s negligence as not foreseeable. The rule for the NIED claim relates to “the alleged actual injury is for psychological distress alone,” and NIED claim achieves compensation for “persons who have sustained emotional injuries attributable to the wrongful conduct of others.” (Iturralde, 2013) Which would apply to Rosalinda because she was Aurturo’s caregiver. Malpractice Policies 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: 1. The physician owed a duty to the patient 2. The standard of care and the breach of …show more content…
Breach of Duty: The doctor/hospital failed to meet that duty 3. Cause in Fact: As a result of the doctor’s/hospital’s failure, the patient would not have been injured 4. Proximate Cause: The doctor’s/hospital’s failure (and not something else) caused the patient’s injury and 5. Damages: The patient has actually been injured and suffered some loss. Hawaiian Laws also contain a doctrine known as contributory negligence. This means a plaintiff cannot recover damages if he or she is more at fault that the defendant. Furthermore, any possible monetary recovery will be decreased in proportion to the plaintiff’s proved fault. (FindLaw, n.d.) Cultural Backgrounds Racial and ethnic inequalities in healthcare results in non-white patients receiving lower quality care that White patients. Additionally, people who speak limited English encounter more communication issues with doctors and nurses that people whose primary language is English. (AHRQ, 2011). Consequently, as people with chronic conditions utilize more healthcare services, they are more likely to complain of issues with the doctor-patient relationship. They feel as though they are not able to participate in their care, their doctors do not allow them to contribute to their medical decisions and they feel like doctors are not disclosing all information related to care. People who encounter this type of cultural ignorance become dissatisfied with their treatment and overall healthcare experience and are at high risk for negative
“In tort law, the doctrine which holds a defendant guilty of negligence without an actual showing that he or she was negligent. Its use is limited in theory to cases in which the cause of the plaintiff's injury was entirely under the control of the defendant, and the injury presumably could have been caused only by negligence”(Burt, M.A., & Skarin, G.D. (2011). In consideration of this, the defendant argues that the second foundation of this principle should be solely based on common knowledge of the situation. Although, there is a experts testimony tartar is no basis in this case , in the experts testimony or anything else, for indicating that the plaintiffs injury resulted from the negligence of the defendant. The court correctly found the defendant not liable under the Res ipsa
Montague and her Husband sued Drummond and Nursefinders. Montague alleged causes of action for negligence, battery and negligence per se and intentional affliction of emotional distress under a theory of respondent superior. She also alleged that Nursefinders negligently hired, supervised and trained Drummond. Montague’s husband claimed for loss of consortium.
The refinement of this definition has significant legal implications, as it broadens the scope of those who can sue within blameless accidents. Prior to this, such victims would also face being labelled with “fault”. Supporting the findings of Axiak, by establishing non-tortious conduct as separate from “fault”, similar, future cases are more likely to proceed despite the plaintiff’s contributory
Schmidt V. Methodist Hospital, Appellate Court of Indiana, Southern District, Indianapolis Division, 89 F.3d 342; 1996 U.S. App. LEXIS 17065; 5 Am. Disabilities Cas. (BNA) 1340, July 9, 1996
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...
According to Penner et al. (2013), there are various causes of healthcare disparities, such as socioeconomic status; this results to poor healthcare services for people with low socioeconomic status, as people with low pay find it difficult to leave their work to seek healthcare help, or to afford healthcare insurance (p.4). The second cause is language proficiency. The language barriers faced by the immigrant plays a role in the healthcare disparities among the racial or ethnic minority patients. Another cause is health literacy. The levels of the health literacy among the foreign born individuals can be influenced by their higher level of distrust of the healthcare providers and healthcare system than they have towards Caucasian people. This, in turn, leads them to seek healthcare information less often than their Caucasian counterparts, thus hindering the provision of quality services, as well as limiting the foreign patients’ ability to manage their health conditions effectively. The foreigners’ failure to easily accept the information provided to them by healthcare providers puts them at risk. Disentangling the role of health literacy in racial healthcare disparities from the effects of racial attitudes and beliefs is often hard (Penner et al,
Liability for negligence is a civil matter. In liability negligence, the victim has to be able to prove that the defendant has legal obligations, and the obligations was breached, and that they have received foreseeable harm as a consequence of the negligence alleged. If the victim can prove that there was a breach of a legal obligation then he/she will be awarded damages based on the basis of the harm caused or loss sustained.
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….
When society thinks of healthcare, there are many racial disparities within healthcare, especially in treatment. How being a person of color in the United States can be difficult when it comes to accessing health care, especially in the hospital. In the United States, there seems to be a separation between physicians and patient, which contributes to the disparities in quality of healthcare. The hospital is a place where people should feel equally treated. The hospital is also a place where can be refused medical attention due to their socioeconomic status, race and gender. A patient needs to have confidence in the capability of their physician, so that they can be able to confide in him or her. When a person goes to the hospital to have
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.
Bentancourt et al. (2005) allows asserts that there are three distinctive reasons why cultural competency is so very important for the American healthcare system. American is composed of a very diverse population, which mean healthcare providers will continual be exposed to treating individuals from various backgrounds and from various cultures; their beliefs regarding their health or healthcare may range widely. When patients have a deficiency in the English language, proper healthcare delivery becomes increasingly more difficult as they will present symptoms in the syntax of their culture and their first language. Also, research shows the communication between the patient and their provider directly correlates to their satisfaction as well as their responsiveness or willingness to follow the health provider medical instructions; this ultimately affects the patient’s health outcome (Bentancourt et al., 2005). It’s fair to say that a successful health outcome is also contingent upon the interaction of the health provider and patient. Reports generated by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) – “Crossing the Quality Chasm and Unequal Treatment, confirms that cultural competence that focuses on the care of patient through
In the case of Norton vs Argonaut Insurance Company there are many factors which impacted the court’s ruling as to the parties who were responsible resultant wrongful death of the infant Robyn Bernice Norton. The nurses, doctors(independent contractors) and the the hospital though not formally charged
On the other hand, the punitive damages may be unlimited if the malpractice is proven to be done on purpose and full intent (Medical Malpractice,
As our communities become progressively diverse, healthcare and healthcare professionals are faced with many new challenges. Language barrier alone is one major area where which can lead to misunderstandings, miscommunication and as a result, affect patient care in a negative way. Other challenges to the healthcare providers are the cultural differences influencing how people view health vs. illness. Often what some people might view to be health others might perceive very differently. Issues of perceptions can play a role in whether a person will or decides against seeking help. Certain diseases depending on a culture might have stigmas attached to them, such as AIDS, HIV, sexually transmitted diseases, or a mental illness to name a few. Patients may not want to discuss such conditions with their
...rameters and all the aspects of the law that appear in our given scenario we can safely say that any claim that is being made by Tom’s representative by Daria and Samira on the grounds of negligence – breach of duty of care and psychiatric injury would be successful and that even though Harry suffered psychiatric injury his claim won’t be successful since he doesn’t fulfill the necessary parameters in order to make a successful claim.