When illness or injury forces you to see a physician or go to the hospital, you can generally be assured that the doctor's years of experience and training will result in excellent treatment of your ailment. But in truth, physicians are only human and as such, errors are always possible. Medical malpractice occurs when a negligent act or omission by a doctor or other medical professional results in damage or harm to a patient.

Negligence by a medical professional could include an error in a diagnosis, treatment, or illness management. If such negligence results in injury to a patient, a case could arise against the doctor if his or her actions deviated from generally accepted standards of practice; against the hospital for improper care, such as problems with medications, sanitation or nursing care; or against local, state or federal agencies that operate hospital facilities.

 

Understanding Informed Consent

In many situations where medical care or treatment is provided to an individual, medical professionals are required to obtain the patient's "informed consent." Although the specific definition of informed consent may vary from state to state, it means essentially that a physician (or other medical provider) must tell a patient all of the potential benefits, risks, and alternatives involved in any surgical procedure, medical procedure, or other course of treatment, and must obtain the patient's written consent to proceed.

 

Responsible Parties in Medical Malpractice Actions

Medical malpractice is not limited to medical doctors. It applies also to nurses, dentists, osteopaths, health care facilities, and others providing health care services, such as nursing homes.

 

Prescription Medications: Things You Should Know

While prescription medications have enabled us to overcome or cure illnesses that were often fatal only decades ago, prescription medications can also be confusing, dangerous, and expensive. The following contains information on how to read prescriptions, how to take them, and how to respect them.

 

Res Ipsa Loquitur

Establishing wrongdoing on the part of a health care provider is often difficult. It requires the hiring of experts, in the same field as the health care professional being charged with misconduct, who must testify as to what the defendant should have done under applicable professional standards. Since medical organizations generally discourage those in the medical professions from testifying against one another, it is difficult to find experts who have the integrity to come forward and testify as to misconduct by one of their peers. In addition, many insurance companies providing coverage to health care providers require that they not testify against other providers who are insured by the same company.