Articles Posted in Medical Malpractice

A dentist, like any other medical professional, has a duty to provide you with a certain standard of care. If that standard of care is not upheld, or is violated, you may have a case for medical malpractice. To have a case, you must satisfy four requirements: Duty, breach (or negligence), causation (why did it happen?) and injury or damages (what was the result?).

Duty

The duty of your dentist, and every other dentist, is to provide you with a standard of care. That standard is the level at which any other typical dentist with a similar education and experiential background would perform. It is an easy way for legal professionals to say that your dentist is held to the same standard as local dentists, but not to dentists in other states or countries.

When it comes to the things that kill people in the United States, several causes come to mind. Drunk driving, cancer and heart disease tend to top the list in peoples’ minds. What many don’t think about is doctors. Doctors help and heal us, don’t they? In most cases, the answer is yes. But doctors are technically the third leading cause of death in the country — a fact that surprises many.

According the Journal of the American Medical Association, health care costs are not reflective of the quality of medical care available in the country. Among 13 leading countries in the world, including Japan, Canada and France, the United States ranks 12th. The ranking is based on indicators such as infant mortality, life expectancy and low-birth-weight averages. In a ranking put forth by the World Health Organization, the country ranks 15 out of 25 of the world’s industrialized nations.

A significant finding is that the general poor health of Americans is not attributed to poor choices as many think. Americans do not tend to have worse habits when compared to other countries. What research has found, is that there are approximately 12,000 deaths each year due to unnecessary surgeries, 7,000 deaths due to errors in medication and 20,000 deaths due to miscellaneous hospital errors. There were another 80,000 deaths due to infections contracted in hospitals and 106,000 due to prescription medications. Keep in mind that this is the average per year.

When someone says “medical malpractice,” what comes to your mind? If you are like most people, your mind immediately jumps to misdiagnosis or even surgical errors. What many people don’t consider is that medication errors comprise a large majority of medical malpractice cases.

A study conducted at Massachusetts General Hospital, a Harvard affiliate and one considered to be one of the safest hospitals in the nation, found that medication errors occur in about 50 percent of surgeries. Over 275 surgeries were studied in which thousands of medications were administered.

At least half of the patients in the study experienced medication error. This is frightening when you consider that this hospital is truly considered one of the best in America. Among the findings in the study include:

Many people wonder if they have the right to sue a doctor for an error due to misconduct or negligence. Every state has its own set of regulations and laws regarding a patient’s ability to file a claim. Understanding the basics of medical malpractice law in New York will help you determine whether or not you have a valid claim.

Malpractice in New York

Generally speaking, medical malpractice occurs when a doctor’s error, whether due to negligence or blatant misconduct, causes injury or harm to a patient. The doctor or medical provider must have breached the accepted standard of care. That is, they must have treated you in a grossly different manner than another medical professional with the same experience would have treated you.

In an era where medical malpractice is big news, doctors and other medical professionals are practicing something that has been coined “defensive medicine.” In other words, doctors are taking steps in their practices to reduce their chances of being sued. They may order extra lab tests, ask for additional imaging, or even schedule you for procedures that aren’t altogether necessary. All this in an attempt to avoid malpractice lawsuits.

In a study as recent as two years ago, more than 400 emergency room physicians were surveyed. 97 percent of respondents said that they practice defensive medicine. They admitted to ordering MRI or CT tests that they did not deem to be medically necessary. But why? They listed two reasons: A fear of being sued and a fear of missing a diagnosis that was not at the top of the list of possibilities.

While this type of medicine is indeed resulting in lower rates of malpractice suits, it comes at a higher cost to the patient and insurance companies. Why should a patient have to pay for imaging or testing to protect a physician? Some experts suggest that better communication may be the better, and cheaper, alternative.