What is Medical Malpractice?
Medical malpractice is negligence committed by a professional health care provider – a doctor, nurse, dentist, technician, hospital, or hospital worker – whose performance of duties deviates from a standard of practice of those with similar training and experience, resulting in harm to a patient or patients. Most medical malpractice cases are based on the concept of negligence-that is, the patient was harmed because the health care provider failed to meet the required standards of skill and care, in accordance with generally accepted standards. Instances of malpractice might include cutting off the oxygen supply during surgery, misdiagnosing an injury because routine tests and procedures were not followed, or prescribing an illegal drug or one not approved for the patient’s condition.
Medical Malpractice is substandard medical care. It is medical care which violates medical standards. In order to commit malpractice, a healthcare provider must do something that no competent physician would have done. Or, the healthcare provider must fail to do something that any competent physician would have done. It is important to note that a bad outcome is not necessarily medical malpractice. Every medical procedure has a certain risk, even if done properly. A bad outcome from a medical procedure may be just one of those unfortunate results.
A – Medical Malpractice is a term used to describe any improper treatment or lack of treatment which violates medical standards committed by a doctor, health care provider, dentist, nurse, hospital and so on. If there duties depart from a standard of practice of those with similar training and experience, resulting in harm to a patient. Medical malpractice can include improper treatment, misdiagnosis, failure to treat, delay in treatment, prescription errors, failure to perform appropriate follow-ups, and more. Medical malpractice is sometimes not obvious and requires the review of a medical expert. A bad outcome is not necessarily medical malpractice. Medical procedures have its risk, even if done properly.
Medical malpractice is a negligent or careless act by a doctor, hospital, or other health care provider. It is the breach of the accepted standard of care that is recognized by other providers who are practicing with similar training in the same field of medicine. It can result from a failure to act or from acting improperly. Examples would include: the failure to properly read an x-ray showing a cancerous tumor; the administration of an excessive dose of medication; the misdiagnosis of a life-threatening condition; surgery on the wrong limb; and failure to remove a surgical sponge at the end of an operation. There are many other circumstances of medical malpractice in the medical and legal literature.
Medical malpractice is the failure of a health care provider, usually a doctor, to provide a patient with treatment equal to the customary standard of care in the medical industry. Further, the failure must result in an injury to the patient. Examples of medical malpractice can take many forms, too numerous to list. It can include, however, misdiagnosis, improper treatment, failure to treat, delay in treatment, failure to perform appropriate follow-up care, prescription errors, and many other forms of negligence.
