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INTRODUCTION The purpose of this paper is to examine the ethical theories and values that exist in the healthcare industry and to analyze those theories into a medical malpractice aspect. To argue why medical malpractice goes against these ethical theories and values. As well as to determine if medical malpractice is an unethical act of behavior by healthcare professionals. When a healthcare professional performs an act medical malpractice is it considered an unethical act or innocent mistake? This paper will include the different types of ethical values and theories in categories such as religion, values, virtues, principles of healthcare and organizational. The importance of this topic is to give the reader an insight of the …show more content…
“These include a failure or delay in diagnosing a patient’s condition, misreading X-rays, prescribing the wrong pharmaceuticals, failing to warn a patient of the risks or side effects of a procedure, performing services without the patient’s informed consent, and making a mistake during surgery or childbirth” (Medical Malpractice Law, n.d.). These are legal requirements that are needed to accuse healthcare provider of medical malpractice. Doctors and physicians are given medical malpractice insurance. This insurance provides them full coverage from lawsuits or any form delegation against them. If a doctor or physician encounters a medical malpractice claim towards a patient this insurance will cover them from lawyer fees to lawsuits. Over the past years the rate of this insurance has increased due to the number of claims that were presented each year. Overall doctors and physicians are protected from medical malpractice claims as form of …show more content…
In a medical aspect doctors and physicians are responsible of not harming a patient. “Physicians must refrain from providing ineffective treatments or acting with malice toward patients. This principle, however, offers little useful guidance to physicians since many beneficial therapies also have serious risks” (Pantilat, n.d). In a medical malpractice aspect this clearly goes against the act of doing no harm towards a patient. Autonomy is an act when an individual perform their actions based off their own character without the influence of others. “Autonomy is the “personal rule of the self that is free from both controlling interferences by others and from personal limitations that prevent meaningful choice”. Autonomous individuals act intentionally, with understanding, and without controlling influences” (Pantilat, n.d). In this situation a medical professional is responsible for their own actions and behaviors. This means that they are held accountable for damage of the patient due to the medical malpractice performed. Justice is “the idea that the burdens and benefits of new or experimental treatments must be distributed equally among all groups in society. Requires that procedures uphold the spirit of existing laws and are fair to all players involved” (Pantilat,
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….
Autonomy is a concept found in moral, political, and bioethical reasoning. Inside these connections, it is the limit of a sound individual to make an educated, unpressured decision. Patient autonomy can conflict with clinician autonomy and, in such a clash of values, it is not obvious which should prevail. (Lantos, Matlock & Wendler, 2011). In order to gain informed consent, a patient
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.
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).
Malpractice is defined as improper, illegal, or negligent behavior that falls below the professional minimum standard of care or service for a patient or a client, when injury or loss has been suffered by patient or client.(Merriam-Webster) Malpractice happens when you turn a blind eye to the wrongdoing in a healthcare setting, also known as omission. Omission is when you fail at doing something that you have a legal obligation to do.(Merriam-Webster) Malpractice essentially has four parts, duty, breach, damages, and causation. (“The 4 Elements of Medical Malpractice”) Duty, what you owe the patient, as a healthcare professional. Breach, what is owed to the patient when they are breached by the responsible party. Damages,
Medical ethics in general is not a modern term; it goes back in time to the 12th century to the Hippocratic Oath. Recently in the 21st century the interest in medical ethics was provoked by a series of medical scandals: Nazi medical experiments, the infamous Tuskegee syphilis studies and so on. After which autonomy in the form of an informed consent was obligatory for minor and major procedures. (2, 3)
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.
That is the rising number of negligent acts committed by medical professionals. Failure to follow standard of practice is the leading root cause of the troubles involving malpractice. Failure to assess and monitor the patient, failure to communicate, medication errors, negligent delegation or supervision and failure to obtain informed consent from patients are the top failures leading to malpractice. The American Nurses Association provides scopes and standards that if followed could prevent many of the negligent acts. Duty, Breach of Duty, Foreseeability, Causation, Injury, Damages must be proven for a nurse to be held
“Defensive medicine occurs when doctors order tests, procedures, or visits, or avoid high-risk patients or procedures, primarily (but not necessarily solely) to reduce their exposure to malpractice liability. When physicians do extra tests or procedures primarily to reduce malpractice liability, they are practicing positive defensive medicine. When they avoid certain patients or procedures, they are practicing negative defensive medicine” (U.S. Congress 13)
Ethics in the medical field are very important and should be taken seriously. As a medical professional you will tested daily on making the best choices, using good judgment and being morally responsible for your actions. There are nine principles in the Code of Medical Ethics that in general make up the primary code. As a medical professional you must always consider what is in the best interest of the patient. Code of medical ethics of the American Medical Association, (2012). When determining the proper “Patient-Physician Relationship, the relationship between the patient and physician is based on trust and gives rise to the physicians’ ethical obligations to place a patients’ welfare above their own self-interest” Code of medical ethics of the American Medical Association, (2012).
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.
In this diverse society we are confronted everyday with so many ethical choices in provision of healthcare for individuals. It becomes very difficult to find a guideline that would include a border perspective which might include individual’s beliefs and preference across the world. Due to these controversies, the four principles in biomedical ethic which includes autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence and justice help us understand and explain which medical practices are ethical and acceptable. These principles are not only used to protect the rights of a patient but also the physician from being violated.
The aim of the analysis is meant to clarify the meaning of the word autonomy thereby the introduction of a concept. Clarification is needed as the word autonomy does have several meanings and not all apply to medical terminology, some meanings span to philosophy, technology and general decision making. The medical meaning is significant in the care of patients for improved outcomes through choice and educated decision making on the part of the patient. Autonomy can be empowering as a concept or even as a single word.
Macklin R. (2003). Applying the Four Principles, Journal of Medical Ethics; 29: p.275-280 doi:10.1136/jme.29.5.275.retrieved from http:// jme.bmj.com/content/29/5/275.full
Ethical and bioethical issues are a constant struggle that all healthcare workers will encounter in some point in their career. Ethical is relating to moral principles. While Bioethics is the study of controversial ethical issues emerging from new situations and possibilities brought about by the advances in biology and medicine. It is also moral discernment as it relates to medical policy, practice, and research. "Bioethics" has been used in the last twenty years to describe the investigation and a study of ways in which decisions in medicine and science brought about in our health and lives and upon our society and environment.