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 Medical Negligence – A Different Outcome: Negligence should always follow the same criteria, whatever the circumstances and in the case of specially trained professionals in acting within their specialty there is a higher standard of care, i.e. a Doctor practicing medicine is judged against a reasonable doctor Dec 30, · Generally, In order to sustain a cause of action for negligence, a plaintiff must establish that the defendant owed him a duty of care, that the defendant breached that duty of care by his negligent commission of an action (or by his negligent omission of action), and that the defendant's breach of that duty of care was the proximate cause of tangible harm to the plaintiff (Dobbs, )
Essay: Medical Malpractice
The doctor-patient relationship has been defined differently through the years. In the beginning it developed into a "common calling" which meant doctors practiced medicine as a duty to their patients.
Laws were developed to protect patients, therefore doctors used proper care and expert skill, medical negligence essay. In the past six centuries, medical malpractice has increased, which lead to revision and addition to the law. Liability was introduced along with the "GIANT of all torts", negligence.
What is malpractice? Malpractice is negligence. Negligence is a tort. A tort is a civil wrong, therefore malpractice is a civil wrong. In its simplest terms, malpractice has four essential elements: 1 Duty. Every health care provider assumes a duty when starting consultations, medical negligence essay, diagnosis, or treatment of a patient, medical negligence essay.
The duty arises from an expressed or implied contract. For example, if you fail to make a correct diagnosis once you have assumed the duty to do so, you have created a "breach of duty", due and owing to the patient. Your failure to correctly diagnose, "duty" you "breached" the duty due and owing to medical negligence essay patient and as a direct and proximate cause of your breach, caused damages.
The result of your failure to diagnose correctly, the patient sustained damages in the form of an additional hospital stay, complications that may or may not be of a permanent and continuing nature. Brooten Jr. Negligence is the most common civil suit filed against doctors.
Picard, Ellen I. Bremner Picard, Ellen I. As a consequence, the plaintiff was infected with septicemia blood poisoning. This doctor failed to give the required standard of care.
Any reasonable medical negligence essay would have in fact changed the syringe after each patient and would have foreseen the consequences for medical negligence essay changing them.
According to the case the doctor did not follow instructions accompanying the vaccine, stressing the fact that a sterile needle and syringe were to be used for each patient. This case is a perfect example of a doctor not following orders and unprofessionally practicing on innocent patients. Though the plaintiff was not mortally injured, the doctor was found liable.
This teaches the defendant physician a lesson along with doctors all across Canada and may prevent another patient from unnecessary suffering. Another common civil tort filed medical negligence essay doctors is battery. Battery is committed by intentionally bringing about harmful or offensive contact with another. The basis of this tort is that the touching is without consent.
York County Hosp. The defendant also performed a meatotomy without the consent of the plaintiff, medical negligence essay. The defendant doctor was liable for battery for performing the unconsented — to meatotomy. There are several other cases just like this one where a patient consents for one operation and given another or both. How a doctor can take the decision of a competent human being into his own hands is beyond me. The plaintiff was in no immediate danger, the defendant could have suggested the second operation after the completion of the first.
In cases like these the doctor medical negligence essay incredibly egotistical and is playing God. Many people believe doctors are the real victims. They feel doctors are confined from performing and medical students limit career options in fear of being sued. There are some illegitimate medical negligence essay ungrateful citizens who insist on filing suits when doctors are not at fault.
When a family member dies, the loss may cause anger and looking for a doctor to sue seems like the right thing to do.
It is human nature to always look for a party at fault in any tragedy. The opposite is also true, medical negligence essay, both overtesting and overtreating are standard methods of beating malpractice suits.
Thousands of unneeded surgeries are performed each year. Expensive technology is regularly misused — CAT scans to diagnose simple headaches, for example. Canada News Wire 12 Dec. It is my opinion though, that by insisting on settlements more doctors take extra care and look for a second opinion. As long as doctors take extra care they should have no fear, medical negligence essay. More and more doctors everyday make lethal mistakes causing death, pain and suffering, brain damage or scarring.
These mistakes must be brought out into the open and damages to the victim should be medical negligence essay. Nolo Press editors, To add medical negligence essay the grief, the plaintiff is injured twice: first by faulty medicine, then by a famously slow legal system.
To win a medical malpractice lawsuit, the injured must prove who caused the injury. This can be an extremely difficult task medical negligence essay the complexities of modern medicine, and the common reaction of doctors, which is to cover up their mistakes.
The few patients who do succeed, wait an average of seven years before getting a penny. Unfortunately, the price Canada pays for these suits is enormous. Medical negligence essay one out of every doctors was successfully sued. A no-fault method to compensate all patients while under medical care is being considered, medical negligence essay. Nolo Press editors, 32 I cannot see this form of compensation working.
It would be abused by money-seekers and insufficient for the genuinely hurt. I also do not believe we are in a crisis situation. According to the Canada News Wire the government has been paying supplements to help physicians with an expected escalation in lawsuits, similar to that experienced in the U.
As it turned out, medical negligence essay, Canada did not follow the U. We may very well find ourselves in a crisis situation if our doctors do not perform with extreme care, medical negligence essay. Everyday people depend on them and trust them. We need physicians to attempt to save lives at the best of their ability.
If a doctor happens to create a breach of duty that causes damages, they should take full responsibility. When a person chooses to be a physician, they choose to render medical negligence essay services to society.
They choose to care for people. By choosing to care, they should feel for the people they hurt when an error is made. They should want to give some form of compensation, medical negligence essay. Canada must undergo some serious changes in the coming years. Doctors attitudes must change along with the compensation system. Whether we keep the present system, and make some changes, or try the no-fault system, we could lessen the pressing problems.
n Picard, Ellen I. Legal Liability of Doctors and Hospitals in Canada. Toronto, Ont. n Brooten, Kenneth E. Malpractice: A Guide to Avoidance and Treatment. Orlando, Fla. n Nolo Press editors. Fed up with the legal system? United States of America : Nolo Press, Internet: Fed up Internet n Taylor, medical negligence essay, John Leathy. Medical Malpractice.
n Law, Sylvia and Steven Polan. Pain and Profit: The Politics of Medical Malpractice. New York, NY. As Doctor Zola-Morgan stated in a speech to animal right activists, "I've seen the impact….
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, time: 24:00Medical Negligence in Common Law - Free Essay Example | EduZaurus
Medical Negligence – A Different Outcome: Negligence should always follow the same criteria, whatever the circumstances and in the case of specially trained professionals in acting within their specialty there is a higher standard of care, i.e. a Doctor practicing medicine is judged against a reasonable doctor Medical Malpractice and Tort Reform Within the realm of American tort law, medical malpractice is equated to professional negligence and is a highly debated issue. “The government estimates that between 44, and 98, people die each year in hospitals due to medical mistakes, the vast majority of them preventable” (Lau & Johnson, ) Dec 30, · Generally, In order to sustain a cause of action for negligence, a plaintiff must establish that the defendant owed him a duty of care, that the defendant breached that duty of care by his negligent commission of an action (or by his negligent omission of action), and that the defendant's breach of that duty of care was the proximate cause of tangible harm to the plaintiff (Dobbs, )
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