...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. To determine if the doctor who operated on Mr. Benson was negligent, the term negligent has to be defined. According to the Journal of Legal Nurse Consulting (2007), negligence is defined as the failure to exercise the standard of care that a reasonably prudent person would have exercised in a similar situation, any conduct that falls below the legal standard established to protect others against unreasonable risk of harm, except for conduct that is intentionally, wantonly, or willfully disregardful of others’ rights. In Mr. Benson’s case, the doctor would be considered to be negligent. The surgeon did not act in the same way another surgeon, in the same practice would have acted. For some reason, not all the measures were taken to ensure...
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...Malpractice Statutes Tort is an intentional or unintentional, non-criminal wrong that causes injury to another party. The injury can be physical, mental, or monetary. Once an injury occurs the wronged party can sue the wrongdoer for damages (Simon, Eddins, & Greenstone, 2009). Malpractice is one type of tort; tort reform is passed at a state level in regard to the laws regarding malpractice. The state can develop laws that cap the amount of reimbursement a judge can award for punitive damages a patient or family can acquire for damages in relation to malpractice. Tort reform, is an aspect that can attract physicians to specific states based on how friendly the practice environment is for health care providers. Tort reform aims to limit the liabilities of the wrongdoer. Those supporting tort reform claim that such changes will reduce frivolous lawsuits therefore reducing the cost of insurance (Simon et al., 2009). Tort reform can put tighter constraints on medical malpractice lawsuits taken to court, opposed to those that are dismissed. Essentially medical malpractice is, negligence or error committed by a health care professional where there is harm caused to the patient. Reductions of malpractice insurance would serve to reduce the cost of health care. Each state sets its own requirements regarding what is required for practitioners to have for insurance coverage to cover the practitioner for any lawsuits charge on them for malpractice. This paper will review two different...
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...Medical Malpractice and Quality of Care: With the increase in costs of malpractice insurance for doctors, how is our quality of care affected and what can be done about it? Rising malpractice insurance affects everyone seeking medical care and should be a cause for serious concern. At first, the health care industry saw rising premiums as only a temporary backlash from a couple of lawsuits with multimillion dollar jury awards. Therefore, health care administrators, insurance companies, and public officials worried little about planning for the snow-balling crisis that exists today. People blame greedy lawyers and generous juries for the problem; however, I feel that more than one cause led to our current situation. Today, administrators and lawmakers debate the best solution to this dilemma. Many suggest that by merely capping monetary damages awarded, malpractice rates will stabilize. I disagree. I believe that monetary caps must occur to help with the costs, but I also feel that patient/public awareness is essential to the stabilization of insurance premiums. After the first multimillion dollar award in a medical malpractice lawsuit, physicians still felt safe because they believed juries would place little or no emphasis on non-economic damages – awards unrelated to medical costs, lost salary, etc. However, the lawsuits kept coming and the awards, especially for non-economic damages, kept escalating. According to the New York Times, “the average jury...
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...------------------------------------------------- Medical Malpractice in Nursing Homes By: Molly Hix Medical malpractice occurs on a daily basis to innocent patients. Today, malpractice continues to increase in nursing homes due to the shortage of qualified staff. Malpractice is when a hospital or any type of healthcare happens through neglect to a patient. Neglect might occur when the diagnosis is wrong, treatment or even aftercare. The number of malpractice cases is on the rise in nursing homes due to the lack of employee to patient ratio leaving patients to suffer and employees on the verge of lawsuits. Back in 1986 a report by the Institute of Medicine was released stating that residents were receiving negligent care. They were likely being physically or mentally abused as well as having all their rights ignored by the caregivers. In 1987 Congress decided to pass a legislation to establish rules and standards for nursing homes. Even though the legislation was passed the nursing homes along with the caregivers were still violating these rules. This regulation was established to make sure patients were receiving the correct care in a professional manner. This meant that the caregivers were required to actively use the available resources to get the proper training to further the patients’ lives and well-being. Fast forward to year 1999, the U.S General Accounting office found a lack of treatment in nearly one- third of all nursing homes. Stated in this report they...
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...Medical Malpractice Statute of Limitations In this assignment we will cover the statute of limitations that govern medical malpractice. We will do such by identifying the statute of limitations placed on medical malpractice by Alabama and Massachusetts. We will discuss some of the similarities and differences between the two. The State of Alabama has very specific rules when it comes to the statute of limitations they impose on medical malpractice. In Alabama all actions against health-care providers must be filed within two years after the date of the injury occurred, or within six months of the date the injury was, or should have been, discovered. In no event may a suit be filed more than four years after the date of the act giving rise to the injury occurred. This limitations period applies to minors over four years of age. However, in the case of a minor under four years of age, that minor has until his or her eighth birthday to file a medical malpractice action In Massachusetts there are also certain statutes of limitations for medical malpractice that must be considered if filing a malpractice suit. All medical malpractice actions must be filed within seven years after the date of the act or omission giving rise to the injury with the exception of actiosn for a foreign object being left inside the body, in which case the limitations period begins to run when the plaintiff discovers or should have discovered the presence of the foreign object. For medical malpractice...
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...Ethics Case Study Brenda Gary HCS/335 Ethics: Health Care and Social Responsibility February 21, 2012 Ken Parker Ethics Case Study The health care system of today is different from that of the past. Incidents of patient injuries that would have gone ignored by the family or patient in the past are now the basis for malpractice lawsuits. The issue today for most health care facilities is liability. The law on torte and negligence (2012) sees liability as a major risk not only for the physician but also for allied healthcare professionals working under the direct supervision of a medical supervisor, such as a medical assistant. When a medical assistant takes it upon himself to perform tasks outside the scope of his training or skills, the physician may be liable for any injuries or damages caused by the employee. Jerry McCall In this scenario, Jerry McCall, is an office assistant who has training as a medical assistant and Licensed Practical Nurse. He receives a phone call from a patient requesting a Valium refill before a plane ride. The patient stresses that he is leaving for the airport within thirty minutes and that Dr. Williams (whom Jerry work for) is a friend who gives him a small supply of the antidepressant Valium when he has to fly. Jerry is the only person in the office at the time of the call and has to decide what to do. Though Jerry may want to help the patient, he cannot. Jerry is a trained professional but he does not have the authority to...
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...Collaborative Practice What do we mean by collaborative practice? Collaborative means united, combined, shared and so by saying collaborative practice it means working together as a team, not just nurses, but the whole multi-disciplinary team all working together to achieve the best possible outcome for the individual person/patient as their goal. Many of us here today may already have an idea or good understanding of what some of the other health professions do. To care /help the individual person/patient to the best of our abilities, providing the highest standard of care is of course the common aim we all share, but what do we really know about the other health professional teams?, From the GP surgeries, to the hospitals, community care and nursing homes. For example; I always thought of occupational therapists as the tea + sympathy brigade with maybe a game of scrabble or some knitting thrown in? Obviously I had no idea!!! I now know and understand that they are at the heart of patient rehabilitation long after the client has been discharged from hospital, devising and implementing individual therapy programmes for all in their care ( children, adults, elderly ), in order to promote, help regain or maintain health and well-being for the individual person/patient. I thought radiographers just took x-rays all day and of course that’s not the case! They can provide a vital role offering support and reassurance to the patient/person...
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...Ethics Case Study XXXXXXXXXX HCS/335 May 2, 2011 Beryl Keegan, RN, BSN, MSN/HCE, CCRN, CLNC Ethics Case Study "Jerry McCall is Dr. William's office assistant. He has received professional training as both a medical assistant and a LPN. He is handling all the phone calls while the receptionist is at lunch. A patient calls and says he must have a prescription refill for Valium, an antidepressant medication, called in right away to his pharmacy, since he is leaving for the airport in thirty minutes. He says that Dr. Williams is a personal friend and always gives him a small supply of Valium when he has to fly. No one except Jerry is in the office at this time. What should he do" (Fremgen, 2009, p. 85)? Medical ethics is a subject open to much interpretation and is prone to many grey area's without definite answers. In the case of Jerry McCall, Medical Assistant, Licensed Practical Nurse and Office Assistant the rationale, ethical and legal, for not refilling a prescription without physician consent are justified. If Mr. McCall chooses to refill the unauthorized prescription and the patient has an adverse reaction, his employer, Dr. William's can be held legally responsible for the committed tort even though he is personally without fault (Regan & Regan, 2002). Ethical and legal ramifications are at stake; using effective problem-solving methods to assist with decision making can help to avert a problematic outcome. Qualifications Required for Authorizing Prescriptions ...
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...Medical Error’s TUI University BHS-499 Senior Capstone Project Module 5 SLP Professor: Medical Error’s I. Introduction: Background and Context of Medical Error’s. Preventable medical errors kill more Americans than diabetes, influenza and Alzheimer’s; and if tracked separately, would be the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States. The National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine (IOM) has estimated that 98,000 Americans die each year as a result of preventable medical errors. Medical Error’s II. Importance, Relevance/Extent of Medical Error’s. There are many types of medical error and they can be classified from minor to major depending on the result of the error. According to the Agency of Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), in November of 1999 the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released a report estimating that as many as 48,000-98,000 patients died as a direct result of medical error in the hospital each year. Patients are always at risk and medical errors may result in: (AHRQ) • A patient inadvertently given the wrong medicine. • A clinician misreading the results of a test. • An elderly woman with ambiguous symptoms (shortness of breath, abdominal pain, and dizziness) whose heart attack is not diagnosed by emergency room staff. Medical Error’s III. Cause of Medical Error’s. Some or most of the hospitals around the world are under-funded and using limited funding efficiently could be very difficult task. Limited funding...
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...1. Justify your position about the importance of the physician-patient and hospital-patient relationships. The relationships of the physician –patient and hospital-patient are both extremely important and equally impact the health of the patient as well as the success of the hospital and physician. The physician-patient relationship is the center of health care due to the fact that one of the main aspects of a patient’s care is his/her discussion with the physician. In the past, patients had to rely solely on the directions and information provided by the physician in order to make important health care decisions. Patients were also limited in their access to health care facilities as well as hospitals. In today’s society this is not the case because most patients have the ability to seek second opinions, research alternate conditions/treatments, as well as rate physician care/hospital services through social media on the internet. A cancer patient in TN may travel to TX to receive treatment from a specific specialist and/or a highly recommended facility. Since the dynamics of the physician-patient and hospital-patient has changed, the relationship has changed but its importance has not. Therefore, it is essential that both the physician and the hospital facility itself have a good rapport with the patient in an effort to continuously build the relationship. A poor relationship between the patient and the hospital and/or physician could compromise the ability of the patient to...
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...June 23, 2012 Memorandum Re: ManBank’s loan to Bob Prepared By: Joan, as director for ManBank, was approached by her friend Bob, requesting a loan to start a new airline business. Bob has determined that he would require a loan of $300,000.00 to begin this venture. Bob plans to use the planes he intends to purchase as collateral for the loan. Joan researches Bob’s background and identifies that he has worked in the industry for 12 years and was able to show an increase in regional sales by 28%. Based on this research and Joan’s personal friendship with Bob, Joan recommends that ManBank provide the full loan amount. The loan is granted and Bob begins his business. Within 3 years, Bob’s business goes bankrupt and the bank is only able to recover one half of the loan amount upon the sale of Bob’s planes. The bank is now responsible for a debt of $150,000.00 that they will not be able to recover. Due to this debt, the shareholders of ManBank file a derivative lawsuit against Joan for breach of her fiduciary duty of care. The issue is to determine if Joan’s conduct is protected under the Business Judgment Rule (herein referred to as, BJR), thus, determining if Joan should be held liable for the company’s debt. As outlined in the NPC courseware, the Business Judgment Rule does not provide for a distinct definition. It is a principle that it utilized by the courts in multiple applications and translations. Essentially, the BJR is a corporate...
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...According to Collinge & Ayers (2004), “moral hazard lowers the price of healthcare for patients and thus causes the quantity demanded of healthcare to exceed the efficient quantity.” In contrast, the policy would save the government a lot of money. They would no longer provide Medicaid for the poor or Medicare for the elderly (Collinge & Ayers, p. 213). One of the most significant costs of modern medicine involves malpractice insurance. Should the government limit the amounts that juries are allowed to award victims of medical malpractice, so as to reduce malpractice insurance premiums and thereby lower healthcare costs? Limiting the amount juries are allowed to award a victim can impede their ability to care for themselves financially. Would you want your award limited to $15,000 and you were left paralyzed for the remainder of your life, resulting in not being able to earn a living? The amount of awards should be based on the situation. In addition, if the government were to enact universal coverage, there would likely be a rise in medical malpractice due to a decline in physician competition and patient surplus for those healthcare providers in demand. References Collinge, R.A., & Ayers, R.M. (2004). Economics by Design: Survey and Issues, Third...
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...(Ansel, 2014). Since they have gone through highly specialized training, they are expected to undertake new challenges by diving into practice areas they are unfamiliar with. One of these challenges is to try and avoid being held liable for professional negligence. A myriad of cases that involve RD is when he or she fails to act in a reasonable manner. In order to prove that negligence it is essential to know the main reason behind it. There could be many reasons such as the Registered Dietitian did not fulfill his or her duty to the patient; neglected the dietitian-patient relationship; or patient suffered extra harm due to receiving wrong information from their RD. It has been said that Registered Dietitian’s have been recent targets for malpractice lawsuits. According to Sharon Palmer, RD, who wrote an article back...
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...two separate law firms on unrelated matters. The client was dissatisfied with the representation they received from one firm, and filed a malpractice suit. Later those two firms merged into one firm. This opinion looks to address three questions: 1. Can the successor firm can continue to represent the same client using any member, including the sued lawyer? 2. Can the successor firm represent the client in the pending matters through members excluding the sued lawyer? 3. Can the successor firm represent the client with respect to one or more matters pending at the time of filing of malpractice suit against the individual lawyer and predecessor firm using lawyers who were not members of the predecessor firm? The lawyer must examine the situation impartially and carefully in a thought out manner, and arrive at a conclusion that the interest of the client in the ongoing matter as well as the future representation of the client will not be adversely affect. The test should consider how the confidentiality of the information protected by the lawyer-client privilege, as well as other secrets of the client will be handled in the future. The lawyer must believe the clients interest will not be adversely affected. If the lawyer disputes the malpractice claim, it’s not likely he should represent the client. If there’s no question to the malpractice and the lawyer is settling, it’s okay to represent. MRPC 1.10(a) indicates that when a lawyer associated with a firm is disqualified from...
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...Medical Malpractice Court’s Decisions Recent studies on 232 court cases dealing with medical malpractice over a 5-year period (2006-2010), were evaluated according to medical discipline, diagnosis, therapy, relevant level of care, negligence, lawsuits and other criteria (Knaak & Parzeller, 2014). Expectations are high when it comes to modern medical treatment. There can be many arising complications associated with potential malpractice. Such complications are unavoidable and can definitely lead to expensive and timely lawsuits. From a patient’s perspective, malpractice is solely in hands of the physician’s liability. There is an established principle of ‘duty to care’ by Donoghue v Stevenson in 1932, where Lord Atkin identified that a medical professional should treat their patient with reasonable care to avoid foreseeable injury to a ‘neighbour’ (Bryden & Storey, 2011). As stated by Bryden et al. (2011), when a duty of care is breached, circumstances of liabilities and negligence may arise. Malpractice Lawsuits According to Michon, (n.d.) the definition of medical malpractice cases can happen when a patient is harmed by a doctor or any other medical professional who fails to provide proper health care treatment. For example, prescribing a high dosage of opioids and oxycodone painkillers that resulted in a few deaths could lead you to face 30 years to life in prison. According to Myers on ABC News, (2016) Dr. Hsiu-Ying “Lisa” Tseng was convicted of second-degree...
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