Medical Malpractice and Tort Reform Medical Malpractice is becoming a major issue for healthcare providers. Certainly, there are legitimate concerns on each side of side of the debate. The cost of malpractice insurance and the threat of being sued influences doctors. This could be a reason why more and more doctors are becoming more cautious and performing tests and procedures that may not be necessary in the patients diagnose. But because of the fear of being sued they are being extra cautious and protecting themselves. Over the course of this paper the writer will discuss and define what is Medical Malpractice and Tort Reform are as well as, answer the following questions. What must the plaintiff prove to prevail in a claim of medical malpractice?
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Elements of Medical Malpractice Medical Malpractice being “Improper, unskilled or negligent treatment of a patient by a physician, dentist, nurse, pharmacist, or other health care professionals.” (legal dictionary, 2017) When a person has alleged medical malpractice must also prove the following four …show more content…
But, they are very different. Medical malpractice is a subcategory of negligence. Medical negligence is the lack of action by a healthcare provider, often without intent; negligence can be done with or without intent; and medical malpractice is done with the intent to harm. It’s important to understand the difference’s since, “In 2013, an article in the Journal of Patient Safety estimated that between 210,000 to 400,00 people die in every year in the U.S. from hospital medical errors.” (January 2014, PBS) The writer has personal experience when it comes to standard negligence. The writer was involved in a car accident, the accident was due to negligence on the part of the other driver. The weather conditions were snowy and slick roads. While the traffic was slow the other driver was distracted by the texting on her phone and ultimately rear ended the writer. Due to the negligence of the driver she was charged with careless driving. Because of this careless driving, it resulted in medical injuries to the writer. Whereas an example of the medical malpractice would be failure of proper diagnostics, failure to properly warn patients of potential risks of treatment that have serious risk factors or if the health care provider gives a wrongful
Elements of Medical Malpractice Medical Malpractice being “Improper, unskilled or negligent treatment of a patient by a physician, dentist, nurse, pharmacist, or other health care professionals.” (legal dictionary, 2017) When a person has alleged medical malpractice must also prove the following four …show more content…
But, they are very different. Medical malpractice is a subcategory of negligence. Medical negligence is the lack of action by a healthcare provider, often without intent; negligence can be done with or without intent; and medical malpractice is done with the intent to harm. It’s important to understand the difference’s since, “In 2013, an article in the Journal of Patient Safety estimated that between 210,000 to 400,00 people die in every year in the U.S. from hospital medical errors.” (January 2014, PBS) The writer has personal experience when it comes to standard negligence. The writer was involved in a car accident, the accident was due to negligence on the part of the other driver. The weather conditions were snowy and slick roads. While the traffic was slow the other driver was distracted by the texting on her phone and ultimately rear ended the writer. Due to the negligence of the driver she was charged with careless driving. Because of this careless driving, it resulted in medical injuries to the writer. Whereas an example of the medical malpractice would be failure of proper diagnostics, failure to properly warn patients of potential risks of treatment that have serious risk factors or if the health care provider gives a wrongful