Medical Malpractice In The United States

Phelps, 2012 describes medical malpractice as professional negligence by act or omission, by a health care provider, in which the treatment provided falls below the accepted standard of practice in the medical community. The outcome of this negligence causes injury or death, to the patient, as a result of the medical error. Cheeks, 2013 estimated that in 2012 over three billion dollars was spent on medical malpractice suits. He also indicates medical malpractice was the third leading cause of death in the U.S. behind heart disease and cancer. These numbers would indicate medical malpractice is big business.

A large percentage of current doctors are reaching the age of retirement and many students are turned off from the field for multiple reasons. One of the greatest disadvantages of having any medical job that involves such high stakes, are the pressures of professional liability. Many doctors are at risk of being sued for malpractice during their medical careers. Medical liability can deter doctors away from tending to high risk patients or even practicing at all. According to a study conducted by the American Congress of Obstetrics and Gynecology, “58% of OB-GYNs said they changed how they practiced due to the risk or fear of being sued. Slightly more than one out of four OB-GYNs (27%) decreased the number of high-risk patients, 24% increased the number of cesarean deliveries, 19% stopped offering VBACs, and 6% dropped obstetrics altogether” ("Women's Health Care Physicians.”). The care these physicians provide is essential, especially for women who are in high-risk situations. No woman should have to worry about being denied treatment by a doctor for fear of being potentially sued. When obstetricians-gynecologists are sued, the effects are detrimental to multiple aspects of the their career. Not only does it bring about a large mess of legal issues, but it also takes a toll on the mental health and confidence of these trained medical professionals. This

From a personal standpoint I believe that the excessiveness of litigation is hurting the field of healthcare due to the affects in many different areas. It reduces access that patients need. Due to the misuse and disloyal antics of people making false accusations to self gain we will continue to see a rise in healthcare. I do not feel that all accusations are false, but I do believe that litigation has become successful due to dishonesty. In order for there to be financial distress for us all as a country we must flow diligently with each other. From a malpractice standpoint they need to ensure that their patients are taken care of to the best of their ability and that they are taking the precautions needed to ensure no

This proceeding before a Medical Review Panel, pursuant to La. Rev. Stat. §§ 40:1299.41, et seq., is brought by Jimmy Martinez against multiple health care providers, including Dr. Mark Kappelman, a qualified health care provider entitled to have the claim filed against him reviewed by this Panel. The claims made against Dr. Kappelman are mere allegations without support and proof. In a medical malpractice case the burden of proof is on the claimant to establish that Dr. Mark Kappelman’s actions in this matter fell below the standard of care required of similar health care providers. The claimant also bears the burden of proving whether any such alleged act or acts of negligence caused any injuries. It is the duty of the

Health risk the growth of mal practice and the deposition of quality care needs improvement, many patients are not receiving the fair treatment due compensation. Patients liability should be upheld within any health facility The safety for patients and medical liability is important in healthcare because many physicians have obligations required to be fulfilled by law to make sure the quality of care is done in a professional manner.federal law has created an legal system that still faces issues dealing with quality of care.Many health physicians still lack accuracy when it comes to a patients liability. Malpractice has not made the right changes to set forth better effort to the improvement of quality health care.The way courts handle

When it comes to patients, patients commit fraud and abuse insurers and subsidized federal programs to obtain preventable services, payments, and medical procedures. Private insurers play their role in fraud and abuse by subsidizing federal programs in order to dishonor medical claims and keep away from financial responsibility for essential medical services. Increased costs of fraud and abuse results in increased insurance premiums, taxes, and costs for medical treatment.

It also costs 46.5 billion dollars defending medicine. Policy limits for malpractice are 1 million per occurrence, and 3 million dollars a year. The payment for 2015 in Oklahoma was 20-40 million dollars. The payment for 2016 for Oklahoma was 20-40 million dollars as well. In 2017 in Texas was 80-100 million dollars. All these numbers are on an annual rate in the closest state. The website listed the information by state so I went with the closest state to me. So based on the amount of money they have to give up with every malpractice case they try to keep their mistakes secret to avoid law suits. The doctors are like children and to them death is just a toy. That is how they come off refusing to admit their mistakes so they can

Another bad result of medical insurance is that it has turned the entire field of medicine in to a financial playground of human life. Doctors are supposed to treat all patients equally, as opposed to treating only those with insurance first, no matter what the circumstance. Before, medical information flowed only between the patient and his or her medical practitioner. The physicians

However, as time went on, several problems arose which had to do with the principle of justice in healthcare. In America, it is the accepted norm that it is unjust to treat one person better or worse than another person, in similar circumstances (Tong, 2007, p.29). In an attempt

The same World Health Organization presentation details the cost of medical litigation rising from $3 billion per year to $24 billion per year between 1975 and 2002 (Dietrich, 2005, pg. 27). The amounts awarded in medical lawsuits have an impact on healthcare delivery in the form of increased insurance costs to the consumer and doctor, or a reduction in services to help cover the cost of litigation. A survey conducted by the Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS) asked 900 physicians if they had practiced defensive medicine procedures. Eighty-three percent of the doctors reported that they had ordered defensive procedures an average of 18 to 28 percent of the time. They also indicated they had ordered hospitalizations about 13 percent of the time to avoid potential lawsuits. The MMS estimates that the excess procedures cost the state at least $1.4 billion a year, and the group believes that amount is an underestimate due to only 46 percent of doctors in the state participating in the survey (Gulla, 2008).

"One of the most significant arenas that tort reform has affected is medical malpractice law. In many states, there are caps on the damages that victims

For the most part, physicians make every effort to work ethically, deliver high-quality medical care to their patients and send relevant claims for disbursement. The general public put their trust in physicians to do the moral thing. The patients depend on physicians to use their expertise to put them on the road to recovery when their health is most vulnerable. The federal government and other third-party payers also rely on physician’s medical decisions to treat and provide services that appropriate for the services that rendered. When the physicians and other medical related facilities submit claims the government expects them to submit physicians and hospitals reimbursing claims for services provided to program recipients, the federal government relies on physicians to submit correct and legitimate claims. The medical providers that are deceitful and exploit the health care system for unlawful purposes have formed the need for laws that combat fraud, abuse and guarantee high-quality medical care.

This begs the question of: Are physicians being sued unfairly? It may seem like this is the case, but in doing research it seems like it’s really a wash.

René Amalberti, Yves Auroy, Don Berwick, and Paul Barach (2005) stated that the increase in pressure from medical malpractice liability and media scrutiny is creating the need for system-level decision. The reason for this is that as systems reaches safer level of performance, the society seeks to hold people accountable or seek legal way out when injuries occur. The public and the media show disapproval to

Chapter 2 provides a detailed literature review of the effect of disease prevalence expectation, bias, clinical information and the litigious process in medical malpractice.