Medical Negligence and Malpractice Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Medical Negligence and Malpractice - Case Study Example There were no laws specifying requirements to practice any profession and anyone could practice whatever profession he or she wished to. As a result, there was tremendous competition between physicians and other healers. The only way the public could hold a person responsible for his actions were through tort laws. However, malpractice litigation can exist only with an established practice and a healer cannot be sued for deviating from standards if no standards exist. Since only trained physicians had professional standards, they were sued and quacks were not. There are five fundamental groupings of rationales for medical malpractice. First, a physician "contracts with those who employ him that he has such skill, science, and information as will enable him properly and judiciously to perform the duties of his calling." Second, "the principle is plain of uniform application, that when a person assumes the profession of physician and surgeon, he must, in its exercise, be held to employ a reasonable amount of care and skill. For anything short of that degree of skill in his practice, the law will hold him responsible for any injury which results from its absence (Breen et al, 1997). Third, a physician "undertakes that he will bring to the work a fair, reasonable and competent degree of care and skill in reference to the operation to be performed." Fourth, "freedom from errors of judgement is never a part of a contract with a professional man." And finally, physicians need not guarantee a cure. These principles led to increased malpractice lawsuits against better physicians. Although medical malpractice is founded on the standard principles of tort law, interest groups perceive medical malpractice differently depending on the way malpractice claims affect their financial, social, political, and professional interests. Differences in perception among politically perceptive interest groups have been significant obstacles in resolving malpractice problems. Articles su pporting and opposing the medical malpractice system have appeared in newspapers and magazines. Opponents of malpractice cite malpractice cost as a cause of high health care costs. Opponents argue that the medical malpractice system modifies the doctor and patient relationship and creates an environment in which defensive strategies influence treatment decisions (Fielding and Waitzkin, 1999). Opponents also claim that damage awards are like winnings in a lottery and provide unscrupulous lawyers and patients incentives to sue the providers. The costs of defending malpractice lawsuits and damage awards are increasing the cost of medical treatment. The costs of defensive medicine are increasing medical costs and making medical care unaffordable. Compensation for medical injuries is a paramount goal of medical malpractice actions (Hay, 1992). Compensation should be timely, fair, and paid to all who qualify for it. To be timely, compensation should be paid expeditiously. To be fair, compensation should be proportional to the amount of loss. However, it is important to determine what injuries will be compensated. The system could compensate all injuries regardless of cause, or medically caused injuries only or negligent medical injuries only. Using the concept of quality costs, malpractice costs can be divided into injury costs and