Liability and Malpractice Essay

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MALPRACTICE/NEGLIGENCE AND LEABILITY EXIST Yoandris Oduardo. Management Resources Institute Legal Aspects of Nursing. February 5, 2013 Abstract Malpractice refers to Negligence or misconduct by a professional person, such as a lawyer, a doctor, a dentist, or an accountant. The failure to meet a standard of care or standard of conduct that is recognized by a profession reaches the level of malpractice when a client or patient is injured or damaged because of error. Medical malpractice occurs when a hospital, doctor or other health care professional, through a negligent act or omission, causes an injury to a patient. The negligence might be the result of errors in diagnosis, treatment, and aftercare or health management. Negligence is a failure to exercise the care that a reasonably prudent person would exercise in like circumstances. In tort law, negligence applies to harm caused by carelessness, not intentional harm. Malpractice is a type of negligence; it is often called "professional negligence". It occurs when a licensed professional (like a doctor, lawyer or accountant) fails to provide services as per the standards set by the governing body ("standard of care"), subsequently causing harm to the plaintiff. After the 1970s the number of malpractice suits filed against professionals greatly increased. Most malpractice suits involved doctors, especially surgeons and other specialists who performed medical procedures with a high degree of risk to their patients. Large damage awards against doctors resulted in higher malpractice insurance costs. Similarly, the increase of malpractice awards against lawyers led to higher insurance premiums and caused some insurance companies to stop writing malpractice policies altogether. Patient safety is a new healthcare discipline that emphasizes the reporting,

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