Argumentative Essay On Medical Malpractice

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Argumentative Essay on Medical Malpractice StatisticsByBrandon Baker Medical malpractice is any deviation by a health care provider from accepted standards of practice, whether or not it causes injury to the patient. Medical errors can occur in diagnoses, surgery, and prescriptions. In medical malpractice trials, defendants have the burden of proof, and expert witnesses testify against health care providers (including medical doctors, hospital residents, pharmaceutical companies, dentists, nurses, or therapists). Given both the injuries (fatal and nonfatal) associated with medical malpractice and the ensuing rise in costs of insurance premiums, medical liability is a social problem with significant ramifications for everyone's health care.According to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, the most common medical mistake is with medication, harming about 1.5 million people annually. Another one third of all claims result from diagnostic errors (e.g., interpretation of radiology reports). Generally, medical errors cause approximately 100,000 deaths a year. Death from prescription errors increased dramatically in the past 25 years and exceeded all other causes of death except AIDS. Fatal prescription errors are even greater for outpatients than for inpatients, particularly among the elderly. This is due in large measure to increased use of mail order and Web-based pharmacies, enabling patients to self-medicate too much or suffer adverse effects of multiple medications, since they receive no direct professional guidance.While medical malpractice lawsuits ensure the rights of injured patients and compensate them for medical negligence, the dramatic increase in lawsuits has caused a growing public concern about the ramifications of huge settlements. As liability insurance premiums rise for health professionals, those additional costs are passed on to

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