How would it feel if the person who was supposed to give skillful and qualified help in a time of illness, ended up being the person responsible for the injury or death of someone close? Medical malpractice is a disgusting and horrifying crime against people, however, its swept under the rug and forgotten about, leaving people feeling hopeless and helpless in the situation they are in. Healthcare officials are unbridled about their carelessness and negligence towards people, and consequently are not brought to justice for the crimes they have committed. Unfortunately, people are misdiagnosed, over diagnosed, and under diagnosed by health care officials on a day to day bases, while going uncompensated. The government needs to take medical malpractice …show more content…
This can induce someone to feel that they don’t have what it takes to bring their torturer down. There have even been incidents where patients were threatened as a result of wanting to sue their doctor. Physicians, dentist, and even opticians threated their patients with a lawsuit if they complained about the treatment they received. One patient complained about their doctor, and the doctor said he would sue her for defamation of character, sadly she withdrew the case. People need to stand for their health, nobody said it's going to be easy to obtain compensation or handed on a silver platter, but this is people’s life and wellbeing needed to be disputed and fought for. Don’t be afraid to come forward about situations or complaints, these health care officials need to bring down for the unjust treatment they are given to people. Health care officials might say that their patients are overreacting, that how there portraying their injuries are over the top and unnecessary. This is exceedingly inaccurate and unprofessional, being cause they think their patients are overreacting, prove to them that they are or aren’t. Inform the patient about their issues and help them understand why they are or are not feeling the way they do, correctly diagnosed them and treat them with care, as a doctor
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….
Learning from what Dr. Anna Pou had to face with the lawsuits she was dealing with makes me cringe. As Healthcare professionals, having to worry of possibly being sued for believing what is right for the patient or as a whole for the hospitals health is ridiculous. Healthcare professionals like Dr. Pou, have taken the Hippocratic oath, and one of the promises made within that oath is “first, do no harm”. Often time’s society look at courts cases as a battle versus two oppositions, but Dr. Pou’s case it is not. In her statements from national television she states saying her role was to ‘‘help’’ patients ‘‘through their pain,’’.
In order for a client to successfully bring a legal malpractice suit they must show the required elements of legal malpractice which are “(1) an attorney-client relationship; (2) a duty owed to the client by the attorney to use such skill, prudence, and diligence as lawyers of ordinary skill and capacity possess in exercising and performing the tasks which they undertake; (3) a breach of that duty; (4) the breach being the proximate cause of the client's damages; and (5) actual loss or damage resulting from the negligence.” Mainor v. Nault, 101 P.3d 308, 310 (Nev. 2004).
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 lawsuits are an extremely serious topic and have affected numerous patients, doctors, and hospitals across the country. Medical malpractice is defined as “improper, unskilled or negligent treatment of a patient by a physician, dentist, nurse, pharmacist, or other health care professional” (Medical malpractice, n.d.). If a doctor acts negligent and causes harm to a patient, malpractice lawsuits arise. Negligence is the concept of the liability concerning claims of medical malpractice, making this type of litigation part of tort law. Tort law provides that one person may litigate negligence to recover damages for personal injury. Negligence laws are designed to deter careless behavior and also to compensate victims for any negligence.
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 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.
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
Explain the issue or dilemma using information from the readings in the book and other sources.
"Doctor, doctor, my body hurts wherever I touch it!” A young brunette exclaims. “Show me,” says the physician. The girl proceeds to poke multiple areas of her body and scream every time she does so. “Hmm,” the doctor remarks, “I think I ought to send you off to a specialist.” Wait a minute, that’s not how the joke goes, is it? Isn’t he supposed to say she’s a blonde with a broken finger? Well, in the future, the joke just might go like that. Lately, Americans and their physicians have been at odds. Citizens are focused on getting the treatment they deserve, while physicians are doing their best to provide it. Unfortunately, many people feel as though they have been shorted or neglected. The result? Medical malpractice litigations one after
The term "medical negligence" is often used synonymously with "medical malpractice," and for most purposes that's adequate. Strictly speaking though, medical negligence is only one required legal element of a meritorious (legally valid) medical malpractice claim.
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:
Today, the medical industry has been transformed. Doctors must live by a different code of ethics other than their oath. Legal fear has put the doctor-patient relationship in jeopardy. Today, physicians view patients as potential malpractice litigants. Therefore, doctors order unnecessary costly tests or avoid treating patients to insure safety from lawsuits. In Chicago, emergency room personnel refused to care for a boy who was shot, and had collapsed thirty feet outside the hospital door, because their legal duties were only to those inside. Because of the fear of lawsuits, the young boy was denied the opportunity to live. Not only are doctor-patient relationships affected, teachers and students are learning under precise laws.
Health care is “the prevention, treatment, and management of illness and the preservation of mental and physical well-being through the services offered by the medical and allied health professions” (Farlex Inc.). Health practices and services by health professionals must provide the best attention and safety measures when regarding patients. Patients go in with the thought that the medical staff will provide the best care possible and healthcare professional have a duty to do so. However, a major issue in the healthcare field for many years has been medical malpractice. The word malpractice derives from the Latin phrase "mala praxis" that was created by Sir William Blackstone during 1765 in his “Commentaries on the Laws of England” (Murphy). The first medical malpractice lawsuit in the United States happened in the year 1794, five years following George Washington inauguration (Murphy). Moreover, in the laws of ancient Rome and England, every person who entered into a learned profession assumed to bring to the exercise of a rational degree of care and skill. Nonetheless, there are often times when physicians deter from the rational degree of care and skill, causing malpractice. In the United States, medical malpractice suits first appeared during the 1800s. However, before the 1960s, legal accusations for medical malpractice were uncommon and had little impact. Since then medical malpractice claims have increased and are now very common, which is a major matter of question. Once the patient files a lawsuit, the defendant must deal with the legalities resulting from their deviation of duty. “A sum of 225,000 Americans die each year from all forms of medical malpractice put together and only 2% o...
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.