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Medical
Malpractice
Medical malpractice occurs when a hospital,
HMO, doctor, nurse, therapist, or other health care provider
fails to do something that a competent health professional
would do, or does something that a competent health professional
would not do. According to the Institute of Medicine, medical
errors kill between 48,000 and 100,000 persons each year.
Deaths due to preventable medical errors exceed the deaths
caused by motor vehicle accidents, breast cancer, and AIDS.
The Los Angeles Times recently reported that drug errors by
doctors and pharmacists put people at risk and that many are
mistakes that are preventable. At least 1.9 million drug-related
injuries occur each year among Americans older than 65. In
more than a quarter of the cases the patients were given the
wrong medication, the wrong dosage, or a drug know to interact
adversely with another drug they are taking. One study suggests
that more than half of 180,000 life-threatening or fatal side
effects could have been prevented. According to the American
Medical Association, most avoidable serious mistakes are due
to prescribing errors and inadequate monitoring of patients
by doctors.
Common
Areas of Medical Malpractice
- Surgical
Errors
- Misuse
of Anesthesia
- Improper
Medication
- Failure
to Diagnose
- Experimentation/Use
Unapproved Procedures or Medication
- Inadequate
Screening of Patients
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The
Truth About Medical Malpractice
Insurance companies, doctors, hospitals, and medical associations
often argue that the number "medical malpractice" lawsuits
are excessive and that such lawsuits have resulted in higher
premiums for consumers. However, a recent report in Florida
has proved quite the opposite. The truth of the matter is,
many more medical errors are committed than give rise to lawsuits,
and that corporate greed and bad business decisions are the
primary reason for higher medical malpractice rates and higher
medical premiums.
The
report shows that the number of medical injuries reported
by hospitals exceeds the number of medical malpractice claims
by six to one. From 1996 to 1999, Florida hospitals reported
19,885 preventable adverse incidents, but only 3,177 medical
malpractice claims. In addition, despite health care industry
assertions that there is a "medical malpractice crisis", medical
malpractice costs accounted for only one-half of 1 percent
of health care costs in the 1990s - hardly a crisis. Furthermore,
the Florida study revealed that the state medical board, which
is supposed to police physicians, is dangerously lenient with
doctors. Of the 24 doctors in the state that have paid out
10 or more medical malpractice judgments, only 12 have ever
been disciplined. Moreover, only 36% of disciplinary actions
in 2001 were severe, requiring medical license revocation,
suspension or probation. Despite the clear evidence that hospitals
are providing poor medical care, the health industry is trying
to pass laws that would limit people's right to be compensated
for horrible medical injuries.
Medical
Malpractice Resources
'Lectric
Law Library Medical Malpractice Topic Area
ATLA
Medical Malpractice Resources
ATLA
Medical Malpractice Fact sheets
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