There are various types of malpractice, from accounting to legal and medical, the world malpractice is generally attributed to professional services that are complex and governed by strict legislation. For the purposes of this malpractice attorney piece, we shall concentrate on medical malpractice and look at the implications of this in the US.
The third greatest cause of premature death in the US is medical malpractice. The first most prolific cause of premature death is heart disease and the second is cancer. With these two monstrous illnesses causing death and destruction, it is hard to believe that the third is caused by the people who have been trained to help us!
Medical malpractice is not necessarily intentional, and at times can be attributed to something as innocent as a misdiagnosis. However there are times that the medical and criminal fraternity seems to join forces purposely to cause hurt.
I once worked in a hospital where one of the OB/Gyn’s would perforate the small intestine of the patient he was performing a hysterectomy on. He would do this, apparently “accidentally” so that the medical bill would be more expensive.
In the meantime a proportion of his patients were walking around with colostomy bags completely unnecessarily, and he was also creating life threatening situations. He was eventually caught out and brought to task, but this kind of case was and still is very hard to prove; the hospital had to bring charges and prove this, as his patients believed him to be completely innocent.
The definition of medical malpractice is “an act of negligence on the part of a health care provider”. This act of negligence has to lead to further complications or death in order for it to be considered malpractice; Much like the case of our doctor above, who was more than just negligent, he was actively involved in an act of commission which is criminal.
The nature of malpractice dictates that it occurs when the health practitioner deviates from accepted medical practice standards. Cases range from botched deliveries in childbirth to misdiagnosis of cancer or other easy to diagnose illnesses. Dentists are also culpable in the case of malpractice as are nursing staff and in fact anyone employed in the medical field.
In the case where a malpractice suit is brought about, it is essential to have a good medical malpractice lawyer on your side. These lawyers are well fielded in terms of medical cases, and in most instances specialize in these cases only.
