Medical Malpractice Ny: Don’t be Fooled

July 19th, 2009 at 07:07pm Under Legal Malpractice

When you visit a hospital, medical care facility, or any other medical establishment, you expect to receive care from professionals and be taken care of accordingly. You certainly wouldn’t expect to catch any nasty viruses, have medical instruments be left inside your body after surgery, or receive the wrong treatment all together. If you feel you have incurred a virus or injury due to the actions (or lack of actions) by a doctor, nurse, or surgeon in NY, you may well be liable to make a medical malpractice NY compensation claim. Making a claim is your civil and legal right, in which you should be entitled to receive compensation to cover your medical bills and pain and suffering.

Regrettably there are situations when doctors fail to diagnose someone with a condition that overtime can turn fatal. Cancer for example, going untreated can cause serious implications because the ability to catch the disease at the right time can reduce spreading significantly. With some cases of cancer, catching it in the later stages will not enable the patients to be treated. This would result in a serious illness or a reduced life expectancy. This is a serious act of negligence, which indicates a true act of medical malpractice. On the other side of the spectrum there are occasions when someone is diagnosed with cancer or any other condition which is not present. Misdiagnosis’ can cause a great deal of stress and anxiety as well as unnecessary surgery and drug treatment. Some people actually develop illnesses from drugs that they shouldn’t have been taking in the first place. And then the actual real illness goes untreated and could get worse.

Medical Malpractice NY claims can be complex can take months to sort out. This is important because it stresses the fact to find a specialist with experience dealing with medical malpractice NY claims. If you have been the victim of medical malpractice in NY and are planning on trying to claim compensation, your case will heavily lie on medical evidence. You or your insurance company will have to pay for these documents which can be quite costly. You will need to show that the person you are making the claim against owed you ‘duty of care’. The duty of care is a general legal duty on all individuals and organizations to avoid carelessly causing injury to persons. It requires everything ‘reasonably practicable’ to be done to protect the health and safety of others at the workplace.

Medical Malpractice NY errors in hospital Emergency Rooms are a common occurrence. They are infrequently talked about and rarely reported to the media. That is why you don’t hear about these types of cases on the news. Understaffed hospitals or ill-equipped emergency rooms may lead to fatal errors while dealing with patients requiring emergency treatment. When the necessary steps of treating an emergency room patient are sidestepped, then a medical malpractice NY emergency error may result. This is when you should consult a medical malpractice attorney to help you with your claim.

Claiming for compensation is very easy these days and will cost you nothing. ‘No win no fee agreements’ are in place which allows anyone to pursue a case without having to find legal costs. With medical malpractice in NY there will be the costs of the medical records. Either way a good medical malpractice NY lawyer will be able to tell you exactly what to expect. Lawyers will not take on medical malpractice cases lightly so you will know what your chances are. Any cost incurred will be recovered from the loosing parties’ insurance company.

Medical Malpractice Takes Many Forms

July 19th, 2009 at 01:07pm Under Legal Malpractice

When we hear the words “medical malpractice,” we may have terrible visions of surgeons amputating the wrong limb or leaving surgical instruments in bodies during surgery. While those events do take place, not all forms of medical malpractice are so terribly egregious. Some forms can be as subtle as missing or delaying a diagnosis, prescribing the wrong dosage of a medication, or delaying a treatment while awaiting test results. While these errors may not seem as egregious as wrong site surgery or being drunk during an operation, they can be just as catastrophic. Whether you have suffered from an egregious medical error or a subtle one, there is legal help available to cover any losses you have suffered.

Medical malpractice cases are often time-consuming, complicated and costly. When deciding whether or not to pursue a medical malpractice case, it is important to ensure the strength of your case and to ascertain that you have a chance for monetary recovery. An experienced medical malpractice attorney can help you determine the validity of your case and advise on whether or not to proceed. Our legal expertise will help you wade through the mire of legal and medical paperwork and jargon that are inevitable in medical malpractice cases.

There are many different types of medical malpractice including, but not limited to, the following:

· Surgical errors

· Emergency room errors

· Birth injuries

· Anesthesia errors

· Medication errors

· Failure to diagnose

· Delay in diagnosis

· Improper procedures

· Failure to get informed consentExperienced medical malpractice attorneyshave spent years representing clients in many different medical malpractice cases and will work tirelessly to get you the compensation you so rightly deserve.

Necessary Elements

There are three basic elements necessary to a medical malpractice case. The first element is whether or not the physician had a “duty to the patient.” In other words, did the doctor actually agree to treat the patient? If the answer is yes, then a certain standard of care is to be expected. The second element requires the presentation of expert testimony that defines what the acceptable standard of care is and then explains how the physician did not administer that acceptable standard. The final element is referred to as “causation.” Your medical malpractice attorney must prove that the harm suffered was a direct result of the medical professional’s actions. This is achieved through questioning, expert testimony, and medical evidence.

Medical Malpractice Victims Have Rights Too

July 19th, 2009 at 07:07am Under Legal Malpractice

When you hear the words “medical malpractice,” you probably have terrible visions of surgeons amputating the wrong limb or leaving surgical instruments in bodies during surgery. While those events do take place, not all forms of medical malpractice are so blatant. Some forms can be as subtle as missing or delaying a diagnosis, prescribing the wrong dosage of a medication, or delaying a treatment while awaiting test results. While these errors may not seem as egregious as wrong site surgery or being drunk during an operation, they can be just as catastrophic. Whether you have suffered from an egregious medical error or a subtle one, there is legal help available to cover any losses you have suffered.Medical malpractice cases are often time-consuming, complicated and costly. When deciding whether or not to pursue a medical malpractice case, it is important to ensure the strength of your case and to ascertain that you have a chance for monetary recovery. An experienced medical malpractice attorney can help you determine the validity of your case and advise on whether or not to proceed. Our legal expertise will help you wade through the mire of legal and medical paperwork and jargon that are inevitable in medical malpractice cases.

There are many different types of medical malpractice including, but not limited to, the following:

· Surgical errors

· Emergency room errors

· Birth injuries

· Anesthesia errors

· Medication errors

· Failure to diagnose

· Delay in diagnosis

· Improper procedures

· Failure to get informed consent

Experienced medical malpractice attorneys have spent years representing clients in many different medical malpractice cases and will work tirelessly to get you the compensation you so rightly deserve.

Necessary Elements

There are three basic elements necessary to a medical malpractice case. The first element is whether or not the physician had a “duty to the patient.” In other words, did the doctor actually agree to treat the patient? If the answer is yes, then a certain standard of care is to be expected. The second element requires the presentation of expert testimony that defines what the acceptable standard of care is and then explains how the physician did not administer that acceptable standard. The final element is referred to as “causation.” Your medical malpractice attorney must prove that the harm suffered was a direct result of the medical professional’s actions. This is achieved through questioning, expert testimony, and medical evidence.

Malpractice Attorney Weighs in on Different Options in Pursuing Legal Action

July 19th, 2009 at 01:07am Under Legal Malpractice

Medical malpractice is the act of performing medical care that results in the patient suffering worse injuries than when first admitted. The act is usually committed by a medical professional including doctors, surgeons, nurses, and even medical technicians. Medical institutions where the act was committed are also liable for damages due to their position in being the employer of the person who committed the act. Medical malpractice is a very serious problem that has been sweeping our nation for many years. The quality of healthcare in the United States has decreased tremendously as people are only looking out for themselves. One example of this is when doctors practice defensive medicine in which they are very cautious in recommending a treatment plan or even committing to a diagnosis. When doctors take on a defensive approach to medicine they often refer patients to specialists that are often unnecessary and expensive. This is not only driving up the cost of healthcare, but it is also driving down patient confidence in the medical field. A Malpractice attorney will have seen first hand how the defensive approach to medicine can significantly increase the likelihood of falling victim to medical malpractice. As doctors continue to take on this approach to medicine, they are going to be far more likely to miss something and commit and act of medical malpractice.

A malpractice attorney is weighing in on different options to purse legal action if an act of medical malpractice has occurred. Depending on the severity of the harm done by the act of medical malpractice determines what type of legal action is best. If it is a small matter, the way the doctor and medical staff handles the situation commonly determines how the patient will react. If the medical professionals are apologetic, have a plan of action, and will cover the costs to ramify the situation, usually things are left out of the court system. However, if the act of medical malpractice results in crucial injuries and harm leaving the patient out of work for an extended period of time and with large medical bills, any malpractice attorney would recommend filing a medical malpractice lawsuit. This way all evidence can be determined and sorted through to determine how and why the act happened, and what could have been done to avoid it and why it didn’t happen.

If you or a loved one has found yourself in a position where you have accrued large medical bills and are out of work due to falling victim to an act of medical malpractice, contact a malpractice attorney as soon as possible. A malpractice attorney will be able to assess your case and help you to gain justice. Medical malpractice cases can be a trying time for anyone, yet it will help you to gain crucial monies to cover your medical expenses, loss of wages, as well as for pain and suffering. Don’t let another’s actions affect you from living your life the way you want to live it.

Medical Malpractice Long Island Cases Can be Lengthy, Costly, & Emotionally Draining But They Can Gain Much Needed Compensation When Successful

July 18th, 2009 at 07:07pm Under Legal Malpractice

Have you recently sought medical care from either an individual practitioner or a medical institution and left feeling confused? Did the treatment plan, diagnosis, procedure, or surgery that you went through cause you to have negative and adverse side effects? Have these side effects worsened over time causing you to suffer through more pain and distress? If you have answered yes to any of these questions you may have be subjected to medical malpractice without even knowing it. If you have found yourself in this situation contact a medical malpractice Long Island attorney as soon as possible. If you have waited to long after being subjected to medical malpractice to contact a lawyer, it may be too late for there are time limitations on these types of cases.

Cases of medical malpractice can tend to be very complicated for the medical malpractice Long Island doctor must prove that the doctor owed the patient a duty of care and the doctor failed to provide that duty of care to the patient. The can be a lengthy and costly process for there is often need for many different experts, witnesses, and testimonials from a variety of different sources. Litigation fees also add up when the case involves many different subpoenas and depositions that take a lot of time for both legal teams to prepare and sort through. Since this part of the process tends to take the most time and resources, it is essential that the appropriate legal team be contracted. In hiring a medical malpractice long island attorney, you are ensuring that the best-qualified attorneys are taking care of your legal needs.

A Medical malpractice Long Island claim be lengthy, costly, and emotionally draining, however if successfully executed it can provide you with the compensation that you need and deserve. Compensation that is awarded during a medical malpractice usually goes to medical expenses, loss of wages, and for emotional distress. In wining a medical malpractice Long Island case it is also important for the victim to speak out about what happened to them. In speaking out about the occurrence it allows people to gain awareness about the epidemic. In gaining awareness other people may learn something and be more careful about the doctor they choose to entrust their lives with. People must know that medical malpractice can occur even from the top doctors in the nation, and sometimes it is completely unavoidable.

If you or a loved one had fallen victim to medical malpractice in Long Island, contact a medical malpractice Long Island lawyer as soon as possible. In contacting a lawyer you are taking the first step to standing up for your rights and putting a stop to medical malpractice. Filing a medical malpractice case is a trying time but it can also prove to be successful in not only gaining compensation but it also creates awareness for others. A medical malpractice Long Island lawyer has the experience and skills necessary to stand up for you in a court of law while also providing that you need.

Florida Malpractice Lawyers Truth About Timely Claims

July 18th, 2009 at 01:07pm Under Legal Malpractice

Every law firm has a very specific and well defined policy concerning medical malpractice claims. Medical malpractice claims are very difficult claims to fight legally. For this reason, a law firm initially accepts these claims on a tentative manner.
It takes time to gather the necessary medical records, to study and analyze the said records, to consult with respected medical experts, to gather additional pertinent data, and to reflect upon the likelihood of success. Medical malpractice claims can be extremely time consuming, very expensive to represent legally, and highly problematical in reference to the chance of success.
Florida medical malpractice lawyers, reserve the right to notify you that, in his/her opinion, your prospective medical malpractice claim does not justify pursuit by the lawyer’s office.
Having come to this conclusion, the law firm expressly reserves the right to withdraw from your representation. If you have asked the lawyer to review a prospective medical malpractice claim, please remember your claim is being accepted under these terms and conditions. Some of the difficulties related with medical malpractice claims are more specifically given below.
The defendant physicians in medical negligence cases receive verdicts in their favor exceeding 70% and often reaching 80%, or more. There are several reasons for this, namely:
1. The jury system is rather conservative — and in medical negligence cases, highly conservative.
For example, most elderly prospective jurors are extremely dependent on health care, that is why they tend to support the defendant physician’s position.
2. Fairness of the juror is increasingly compromised by insurance industry, by media and by propaganda.
This is not to say the propaganda generated is accurate; most of the time the information presented is provocative, but highly inaccurate. Despite this fact many jurors repeat what they have read, heard, or seen. Statements like these are heard frequently:
a. “Malpractice settlements and verdicts significantly drive up health care costs.”
b “Doctors order tests as part of defensive medicine.”
c. “Expert witnesses are mostly phonies and hired guns.”
d. “Are you one of those lawyers who advertise on television?”
3. The legal rules are slanted in favor of the defendant physician in many respects.
Expert testimony is required in virtually every case to prove the defendant physician failed to meet the established or existing “health care standard.” When a trial becomes a “battle of experts”, the petitioner is more often at risk and more likely to lose. The standard of care needed by medical providers incorporates “average” care. It does not require excellence.
4. Most of the time the legal “killer” is causation.
Defense verdicts are frequently delivered and rationalized by juries on this statement. In most medical negligence cases it is observed that almost every petitioner had some pre-existing condition that ultimately led to the injury complained off.
5. The vast majority of cases are not economically viable to pursue.
Without significant publicity, insurance carriers pay the defendant physician and his insurance carrier to delay the settlement, with the help of defense counsel. And that is exactly what happens. Thus, the plaintiff must either accept a nominal settlement or be ready to hire experts whose fee levels are often highly inflated. Litigation costs that are associated with an average contested medical negligence or medical malpractice claim more often than not exceed $50,000.00. And the hours that a lawyer usually spends on a case number to hundreds of hours.
Ten years ago, the conventional wisdom dictated rejection of medical negligence claim that had damage potential of less than $200,000.00. Today, because of the increasing pressure and the increasingly complicated nature of juries, conventional wisdom is not to accept a claim unless it has a value of, at least, $300,000.00.The above mentioned reasons demonstrate the difficulty and intricacy of medical negligence cases and the obstacles likely to be faced by the lawyer in the prosecution of such cases. These are the reasons, among others, that do not permit the medical malpractice lawyer to pursue every medical negligence claim that are reviewed by the lawyer.
NEGOTIATION AND SETTLEMENT
Once the lawyer has completed the initial evaluation, conducted the necessary investigation, and documented your claim as best as the lawyer possibly can, he/she will submit a demand note to our opponent to explore the possibility of settling your claim without the need of filing a lawsuit.
This process is treated in terms of the effort put forward just as if the lawyer was far along in the litigation process and preparing for trial. Demonstrative exhibits are frequently utilized as part of the settlement demand package, along with settlement videos, and bound settlement books .The goal is to make your claim stand out from every other claim received by the opposing insurance carrier. The ability to add a unique element to the claims of the clients often results in highly successful settlements.
If a claim is not resolved in the pre-suit stage, which does not mean that the lawyer will not continue settlement negotiations as appropriate. The entire lawsuit is often in reality, one long settlement negotiation. The goal after proceedings are commenced is to position the case so the best possible settlement or judgment can ultimately be achieved.

An Overview of Medical Malpractice & Lawsuit

July 18th, 2009 at 07:07am Under Legal Malpractice

Medical Malpractice is a legal term associated to lawsuits alleging damage to a patient because of various circumstances like misdiagnosis, mistreatment, or various types of negligence made by medical professionals, including doctors. Readers should note that not all errors in medical diagnosis and treatment are necessarily malpractice, because there are certain risks and margins for error that arise inherently in the practice of medicine.

According to JAMA – Journal of the American Medical AssociationMedical malpractice has become the third leading cause of death in the United States, after deaths from heart disease and cancer. The chief allegation is misdiagnosis, either delayed diagnosis or mismanagement of diagnostic tests. It has been observed in a study that the top five diseases that receive monetary awards for medical malpractice, in terms of value, are breast cancer, lung cancer, colorectal cancer (including colon cancer and rectal cancer), heart attack, and appendicitis.

Some of the most common medical malpractice conditions which occur as a result of negligence of doctors or other medical professionals are Cerebral Palsy, Erbs Palsy, Birth Defect Litigation, Birth Injury, Cancer Misdiagnosis and Nursing Home Abuse.

In order to successfully win a medical malpractice award, there are several obstacles to overcome. The first is that the case must be started before the statute of limitations has run out, and this length of time varies by state (and country) and also varies depending on the type of lawsuit or specific allegations

There are several obstacles to overcome in order to win a medical malpractice award. The first and foremost is that the case must be started before the statute of limitations (time limit that restricts when you can start a lawsuit) has run out. The statute of limitations varies by state (and country) and also differs depending on the type of lawsuit or specific allegations.

Since some of the medical errors are considered “normal” and many surgeries, procedures, and drugs have known risks and side effects, it is necessary to prove medical malpractice, rather than a medical error or other adverse event that may not be considered negligence or malpractice.

Always consult with your attorney or other legal professional for any legal advice related to medical malpractice. The information provided in this article is for general informational purposes, and does not constitute legal advice. There are few web sites (like SelectCounsel.com) which evaluate your medical malpractice case for FREE!

Jury Verdicts in Illinois Medical Malpractice Lawsuits

July 18th, 2009 at 01:07am Under Legal Malpractice

Recently in Illinois, an infant was rushed to an emergency room by his parents for incessant crying and vomiting that prevented him from nursing. The emergency room physician diagnosed the infant with a gastrointestinal colic and sent the family home with instructions on how to cope with the colic. The next day, the infant suffered a painful death, due to a rare heart defect that the doctor could have discovered by ordering a standard chest x-ray. When the infant’s parents hired Chicago medical malpractice lawyers and sued both the hospital and the emergency room physician, a jury found both defendants liable for $2,250,000.

Multi-million dollar medical malpractice verdicts beg the question of how juries arrive at such numbers. What is the just measure of punishment for a doctor’s error that can adequately compensate the loss of grieving parents? Obviously no amount of money could ever compensate parents or make them whole after the loss of a child. Even if such a number could be reached, is it really fair to make doctors liable?

In every profession or line of work, people, even licensed professionals, make mistakes. Unfortunately for medical professionals, every day mistakes can lead to medical malpractice lawsuits involving unfathomable tragedies such as brain damage, birth injuries, quadriplegia, amputations, and death.

The Illinois legal system has guidelines for striking the most appropriate balance between protecting both patients and doctors through (1) restrictions on filing cases, (2) caps on certain types of damages, and (3) comparative negligence testing.

Filing an Illinois Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

An Illinois medical malpractice lawsuit, in most instances, needs to be filed within a 2 year statute of limitations period from the date that malpractice could have been reasonably discovered, but no more than 4 years from the date of treatment. This means that some patients are given a slightly extended period of time after medical treatment until they reasonably discover medical malpractice.

For instance, when a woman undergoes surgery to prevent future pregnancies and winds up pregnant three years later, she still has one year to file a lawsuit, because she could not have reasonably discovered the malpractice until she became pregnant three years after surgery. Despite the extension given for the discovery of malpractice, all cases are subject to a four year limitation. Thus, if the woman became pregnant 5 years later, she would no longer be able to file a medical malpractice lawsuit.

The Illinois medical malpractice statute of limitations exists to protect doctors against stale claims. As time passes, it becomes increasingly difficult to formulate a defense against acts committed in the past. Furthermore, the statute of limitations exists so that doctors are not forced to worry about their mistakes for an unlimited amount of time. The statute of limitations can be longer in cases involving minors or shorter against government entities.

Once it is established that a case satisfies the statute of limitations, a lawsuit can only be filed if a patient’s medical malpractice lawyer finds an expert who is willing to testify about a breach of standard care.

In every medical malpractice lawsuit, the overarching question is whether a doctor breached the standard of care in his or her field of practice. Standard care requirements are different for each area of medicine so medical malpractice expert witnesses must be doctors who practice in the area of medicine involved in a particular lawsuit. In order to show that there has been a breach of the standard care in a medical field, there must be an expert witness who is willing to testify for the plaintiff and say that the doctor in question failed to meet the standard of care requirements in the industry. Without expert testimony, medical malpractice cases cannot even be filed.

Illinois Medical Malpractice Damages

There are three types of damages that are generally available in Illinois law: economic damages, non-economic damages and punitive damages. As the name suggests, punitive damages are used as a form of punishment, and are not available in medical malpractice. The reasoning behind no punitive damages is that medical malpractice is a form of negligence, which is a non-intentional tort that society generally does not punish.

Economic damages include all of the medical bills and expenses that arise from malpractice, which can range from hospital bills, prescriptions and transportation costs involved. There are no caps, or limitations to the amount of medical malpractice economic damages that juries can award. Anything that a patient is billed for as a result of malpractice is an economic damage that doctors and hospitals are liable for.

Non-economic damages involve payment for all of the intangible expenses that patents endure, such as pain and suffering or even loss of relationships. As of August of 2005, non-economic damages are limited to $500,000.00 against individual doctors and $1,000,000.00 against hospitals. Thus, an Illinois jury’s decision for the total amount of damages owed to a patient is limited to the medical costs associated with the malpractice, plus a maximum of $1.5 million for non-economic damages.

Comparative Negligence in Illinois Medical Malpractice

Once a conclusion is reached for the amount of damages that were incurred by a patient, juries are asked to deduct from those damages a percentage of the patient’s own comparative fault. Damages can be deducted as far as 50%, but once a patient’s fault is recognized as more than half, damages for the plaintiff are removed entirely.

The 50/50 comparative negligence test in Illinois only allows medical malpractice recovery against doctors when patients are 50% or less at fault. For example, if a patient is released from a hospital, and instructed by a doctor not to drive for one week while on antibiotics, but ignores the instructions, crashes a car and is severely injured, a jury would probably find that although the antibiotic may have caused the accident, the patient was more than 50% at fault for ignoring the doctor’s instructions, and thus barred from recovery against the doctor who ordered the prescription.

On the other hand, in closer cases, juries can determine that patients are less than 50% at fault. In a recent case, a patient was rushed to a hospital for severe allergies that were aggravated by his smoking habits. The patient died when doctors administered a food supplement through his feeding tube that contained milk, which he was also allergic to. The jury found that the patient was 38% at fault, because it was his smoking that contributed to the patient’s weakened condition that led to his death. Because the patient was less than 50% at fault, doctors were responsible for paying the patient’s estate according to their share of the blame, which was 62%.

The calculation of damages, and comparative negligence along with restrictions such as the statute of limitations and requirements of expert testimony regarding standard care helps juries arrive at fair verdicts in extremely difficult cases. The downside to the extremely involved process is that it results in long lawsuits that can last for years and involve expensive legal fees. Nevertheless, the Illinois legal system strives to strike an appropriate balance between protecting both patients and doctors.

Possible Legal Risks a Nurse Might Encounter

July 17th, 2009 at 07:07pm Under Legal Malpractice

In today’s litigious society, it can be easy for the nursing staff to become involved directly or indirectly in legal matters. However, just as the amount of cases has increased, there are some common themes among legal battles involving nursing practitioners that have stood out. By understanding some of the issues at work, nurses can avoid many of the trouble or high risk areas that might create future legal situations. Over-stressed and exhausted individuals can make errors which could develop into legal entanglements. Though, with today’s nursing shortage, longer hours and increased patient load may be unavoidable. Here are a few areas in which nurses could possibly be placed in a legal situation. Negligence

Obviously, if a nurse is neglecting the patients in his or her care, the nurse can be held responsible for the negligence. Negligence is the failure to take an action that should be attended to. Medication not administered, care not given, supervision not provided-all of these things may qualify as negligence. A patient has the right to expect that a certain level of care would be provided to them. If this level is not maintained, the patient may have grounds for pursuing legal action to remedy the results of the negligent activities. Malpractice

As opposed to negligence, malpractice is doing something wrong when it was reasonable to expect that the activity would be done correctly. For example, if a nurse does range of motion movements on a patient incorrectly and causes additional strain or pain to the joints, this might be considered malpractice, since it is to be expected that a nurse would be trained in doing such tasks correctly. It does not matter why the malpractice occurred, but it can be the result of fatigue or incomplete or inadequate training. Malpractice is tied to legal risks in many hospital settings each year, although it is more commonly thought of in connection with doctors than nursing staff. Accidents

An accident is an unforeseen circumstance that is not necessarily due to negligence on the part of the nurse. An accident might occur if a nurse’s action is done incorrectly with full knowledge of the correct way to perform the task. An accident could also occur if a patient who is allowed to be out of bed without supervision slips and falls. Although it is a legal risk, this scenario may not be as difficult to defend as negligence or malpractice. However, since the victim may be looking for someone to blame for their misfortune, the nurse may very well be tied up with legal issues in this particular situation. The Actions of Another

If the actions of other personnel or staff fall under the heading of negligence or malpractice and it is not reported, you may potentially be held accountable for legal implications resulting from negative activities. If a nurse knows of a co worker who is abusing drugs, for example, and that nurse allows that activity to continue, the nurse can be held responsible for any harm that is caused while that nurse was under the influence. If someone under a nurse’s supervision is not adequately trained in transferring patients, that nurse has some responsibility to encourage them to learn the missing skills. This is to protect the patient and the staff member from injury. Documentation

One of the greatest legal defenses a nurse has is to always document properly. This can work the other way as well though, and a nurse can be held responsible if there are documentation errors. The patient’s charts are the legal record of actions taken medically on their behalf. It is critically important that such records be complete and accurate. If there is a controversial order on the chart, in the view of the nurse, then it would be wise to verify. Legal risks are higher if the charting is done incorrectly, or inadequately. Certification and Licensing

A nurse that does not have current certification and licensing may become involved in legal entanglements, particularly if any other activities attract the attention of the authorities. Practicing medicine without being properly trained can be dangerous for the patient, but can result in huge fines and even prison time for the person who is found guilty of such acts.

These examples represent occasions when a nurse may be involved in activities that cause risk legally either to the nurse or the other medical staff in the facility. Different types of nursing situations may be more prone to risk than others. For example, a hospital setting may be more likely to have certain types of legal risks. Home health care may display another type of risk, while nursing home care may represent another entire group of risk factors.

Tort Reform (part 3): Do Doctors Leave States With Unfriendly Medical Malpractice Environments?

July 17th, 2009 at 01:08pm Under Legal Malpractice