Medical Malpractice Lawsuits

The Plaintiffs felt that since the hospital was licensed and accredited that they should be held responsible for their employees and their actions. It states in the regulations that any infraction of the bylaws imposes liability for the injury. At any time if Dr. Alexander had questions or concerns he could have reached out to an expert in this field to consult

The threat of liability, of ruining the good names of the anesthesiologist and the hospital, of increased insurance premiums—all of these add to the reasoning behind the anesthesiologist’s decision to alter the patient’s history and lie about what truly happened. As portrayed in The Verdict, one of the most challenging features of a retributive approach in malpractice suits is that it instantly

Medical malpractice claims have risen dramatically over the past 40 years alongside the financial claim awards (Kessler, 2011). Currently, America’s medical tort system is regulated and enforced primarily by the states (“Medical Tort System,” 2016). The main focus of tort law is to preserve the peace between two parties, to determine fault and discourage wrong doing (Pozgar, 2016). Most physicians today carry medical malpractice insurance to protect themselves from the high defense costs of claims and potential financial awards (Kessler, 2011). As the number of medical claims increase and jury awarded punitive damage skyrocket, medical malpractice insurance premiums have also risen dramatically (Kessler, 2011). Malpractice insurance

The plaintiffs, A. V. Blount, Jr., Walter J. Hughes, Norman N. Jones, Girardeau Alexander, E. C. Noel, III, and F. E. Davis, are medical doctors (practitioners) licensed to practice and practicing medicine in the City of Greensboro, North Carolina.

Bronx medical malpractice lawyer Ivan M. Diamond and his associates are experienced at fighting and winning cases for the victims of medical errors. Medical malpractice, or preventable medical errors, is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. Hundreds of thousands of people are killed or seriously injured annually as a result of medical, hospital, nursing or nursing home malpractice.

One approach to minimize large amounts of tort claims for medical malpractice is to put a cap on non-economical awards. Tort reform is the response; a tort is a civil lawsuit for damages over private wrongs other than breach of contract. According to Lau and Johnson (2014), a tort can be categorized into three categories: intentional tort, when tortfeasor acted with intent, negligence, if the tortfeasor did not act intentionally, but failed to act as a reasonable person, and lastly, strict liability, if the tortfeasor is engaged in certain activities, which caused injury or death due to it. The massive medical malpractice cases across the nation have made defending frivolous lawsuits is a national problem; ultimately, the general public

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

Lawsuits of medical malpractice may be the greatest threat to justice in the legal system. Tort cases are constantly filed against medical practices which cause health care prices to dramatically increase in states lacking caps. Medical practitioners are forced to undergo an unnecessary amount of costly tests and procedures in order to defend themselves from frivolous lawsuits. The expenses of these precautions cause hospitals and other medical facilities to charge more for the care given to the patients,

Tort reform, being one of those platforms, is proposed as one solution to the rapidly increasing health care cost in the United States. Careful reform of medical malpractice laws can lower administrative costs and health spending. This will also lead to improved patient safety and steer physicians away from the costly practice of defensive medicine.

One of the great privileges of living in America is the ability to seek the American dream. We have the opportunity, if we work hard enough, to seek any career path of our choice. Those who seek out a career in healthcare should not be faced with the fear of legal action staring at them around every corner. However, there should be consequences in the event of proven neglectful medical care. Therefore, there has to be a middle ground, where both patients can receive care and healthcare professionals can practice in a safe, fearless environment.

“Medical malpractice occurs when a hospital, doctor or other health care professional, through a negligent act or omission, causes an injury to a patient. The negligence might be the result of errors in diagnosis, treatment, aftercare or health management.” (Admin) One of the most common type of claims that pharmacies face are negligence claims. Negligence is one of the categories that falls under the area of law called Torts. In the Hundley v Rite Aid case, a tort was filed for injuries that were sustained by Gabrielle Hundley after she took medication from an incorrectly filed prescription. The case involved a jury trial verdict involving Gabrielle Hundley, a minor child, against Howard Jones, the pharmacist, and the Rite

It is human nature to make mistakes; however, mistakes that cause harm to someone else could be considered negligence. In the case with Mr. Benson in the Neighborhood Newspaper article, a mistake was made that was irreversible. He went into the hospital to have his leg amputated, and the doctor amputated the wrong leg. The question is was the doctor negligent in his practice? Is the amputation of the wrong leg considered to be malpractice on the doctor’s part? This paper will differentiate between negligence, gross negligence, and malpractice. After differentiating between these terms, it will be determined if the doctor operating on Mr. Benson was considered to be negligent, gross negligent or was this mistake malpractice.

In the United States, state laws dictate the abilities and skills medical professional would need to perform in a medical professional’s scope of practice and sets the legal boundaries in which they can work within. Due to an increasing influx of patient care that is needed due to the Affordable Care Act, the scope of practice boundaries are being crossed, which in turn has turned many legislative heads but not in a positive light. Since the issues in medical errors are being brought to the fore front it has become controversial and now legislature is asking the states to look into restructuring the scope of practices in all areas the medical industry. Without restructuring patient care will continue to be poor or inadequate and litigation will continue to rise due to poor patient care, incorrect testing, ineffective specimen collection, missed diagnosis, and poor supervision and communication. Death related cases due to medical errors are the 5th largest in the United States which makes it the 5th leading cause of death in the United States. Many medical errors are actually billed and paid for by insurance companies and the physician receives payment for the errors. The United States spends billions on litigation per year and therefore restructuring the medical industry could save the United States millions of dollars per year and make for a safer over all environment for everyone.

The intended consequences of the medical malpractice system represent only the tip of the iceberg as to the realized effects. (pages 182-183 in the textbook)

Imagine you are injured or sick and have sought a doctor’s help. Although you trusted your doctor, something, something seemingly very in control of the doctor, went wrong. You are angry and confused, but also think of the commonality of medical malpractice. So, why do doctors, who are supposed to help, harm? Though many flaws influence it, malpractice can be, and often is unintentional. Most doctors aren’t trained to harm their patients. Inexperience and lack of medical discovery led to unintentional suffering of the patient. Personal flaws, like lack of willingness to abandon previous medical methods and shortcomings in communication also harm patients. Further reasons why doctors harm are socio-medical understandings that breed hate, prejudices stemming from a society’s belief about certain people, such as the medical practice under the Nazi regime. Additionally, displayed in the case of Ignác Semmelweis, judgement of one to oneself can be detrimental to any progress one’s ideas could make. We will examine these concepts through Jerome Groopman’s “Flesh-and-Blood Decision Making”, Sherwin Nuland’s The Doctors’ Plague and Barbara Bachrach’s “In the Name of Public Health”. Those who practice medicine are, unfortunately, unfree from the imperfections that plague all of humanity. Through these intimate and varied faults, doctors do harm.