Putting A Band-aid On Medical Malpractice Law

by Jay Anderson

Medical malpractice law steps in when a doctor or other medical practitioner has been accused of acting negligently during treatment of a medical condition. Legitimate medical malpractice can happen because of something the doctor did, or because he or she didn’t take appropriate action.

Some examples of medical malpractice include: unreasonably delaying treatment of a medical condition that has been diagnosed; failing to provide proper treatment for a particular medical condition; or failing to diagnose/misdiagnosing a medical condition or disease. In addition, malpractice laws can differ state to state in regard to lawsuits themselves, so you should check your particular state to determine what applies to you. If a doctor makes an error but there is no medical harm because of it, the patient cannot recover damages.

Yet another segment of medical malpractice law has to do with the subject of informed consent. A patient must give informed consent to a medical procedure in order to have it done. This means that he or she knows all of the dangers and benefits of the procedure, and consents to any risks taken. When the informed consent is not properly obtained, the doctor can be said to have performed medical malpractice even if the patient is not actually harmed by the procedure.

As the world becomes more technologically advanced it becomes more of a fast food nation where everything is faster. This rush to get things done has extended to the medical industry as doctors and healthcare professionals are under more and more pressure to make diagnoses as quickly as possible. That, coupled with medicine moving more into a business of profit, leaves much more opportunity for physicians to make mistakes in an industry where there is very little room for error. This attitude and practice makes medical malpractice law even more vital.

This characteristic of the new environment of the medical industry is that doctors are spending less and less time with their patients which equates to less time that the doctor has to obtain the patient’s medical history that is thorough enough to provide the doctor with vital clues that may aid him or her in diagnosing a condition. This is problematic for both the patient and doctor because the likelihood of misdiagnosis or missing key symptoms that could lead to a diagnosis is very high. Medical malpractice law is even more relevant in such cases because it plays a major role in improving patient care as well as protecting doctors from frivolous or erroneous lawsuits.

Some doctors are striking back against patients who have filed unfounded or frivolous lawsuits against them by countersuing. Many Medical malpractice lawsuits are settled out of court because insurance companies urge plaintiffs and defendants to go that route due to decreased expenses. This activity, however, makes it difficult to track lawsuits that are files because they are not recorded in a court of law which is public domain. It is estimated, however, that approximately 25% to as many as 50% of lawsuits filed but are later deemed frivolous are still paid. Removing the legal element of a judge undermines the checks and balances system.

Doctors must carry medical malpractice insurance so that they may be protected in the event that they are sued, regardless of whether the suit is found to have merit or not. Even the most vigilant of doctors may be sued; no one is exempt. Doctors who are sued must contact their insurance company immediately so that they will have access to the many resources available to counter the suit if it is unfounded.

Medical malpractice law at present has been deemed ineffective by all parties involved in many cases, and can leave both patients injured by malpractice and innocent physicians as victims. Many experts believe that because the attorneys on either side are the ones who profit regardless of outcome, this is where improvement needs to start. Many believe that a new system needs to be put in place where efficiency is the key, and both patient and physician rights are taken into consideration first and foremost. The current adversarial system, with one attorney pitted against the other simply to “win,” may be the reason for the inefficient and often unfair current medical malpractice system.

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