Medical Malpractice And Tort Reform Research Paper
Medical Malpractice and Tort Reform
Kristen Addington
MGT320 – The Legal and Ethical Environment of Business
Colorado State University – Global Campus
Dr. Cooper-Blood
February 26, 2017
Medical Malpractice and Tort Reform
According to research conducted by a team at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine about 10% of deaths per year in the United States are caused by medical errors (Sternberg, 2016). This makes medical errors the third leading cause of death in the United States, heart disease being the first, and cancer the second (Sternberg, 2016). The medical errors for this study were defined as: “lapses in judgment, skill or coordination of care; mistaken diagnoses; system failures that lead to patient deaths or the failure to rescue dying patients; and preventable complications of care” (Sternberg, 2016). 10% is a decent percentage that should not be ignored. Tort reform in the area of medical malpractice has many arguments for it …show more content…
Medical malpractice is a category of the negligence tort in which medical professionals commit negligence (Lau & Johnson, 2014). Therefore, medical malpractice is a specific type of negligence. The following must happened in order to make a claim of medical malpractice: the duty owed by the defendant to the plaintiff must be established, proof that this duty was breached must be shown, proof the defendant’s actions caused this breach and lastly the damages sustained by the plaintiff must be shown (Lau & Johnson, 2014). Medical professionals have a duty to perform medical care to their patients. If an error is made during their medical care that causes injury or death to a patient, their duty has been breach. Proof of this error and that it was the doctor’s responsibility must be shown. The injury or death must be explained as a result of the doctor’s
Kristen Addington
MGT320 – The Legal and Ethical Environment of Business
Colorado State University – Global Campus
Dr. Cooper-Blood
February 26, 2017
Medical Malpractice and Tort Reform
According to research conducted by a team at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine about 10% of deaths per year in the United States are caused by medical errors (Sternberg, 2016). This makes medical errors the third leading cause of death in the United States, heart disease being the first, and cancer the second (Sternberg, 2016). The medical errors for this study were defined as: “lapses in judgment, skill or coordination of care; mistaken diagnoses; system failures that lead to patient deaths or the failure to rescue dying patients; and preventable complications of care” (Sternberg, 2016). 10% is a decent percentage that should not be ignored. Tort reform in the area of medical malpractice has many arguments for it …show more content…
Medical malpractice is a category of the negligence tort in which medical professionals commit negligence (Lau & Johnson, 2014). Therefore, medical malpractice is a specific type of negligence. The following must happened in order to make a claim of medical malpractice: the duty owed by the defendant to the plaintiff must be established, proof that this duty was breached must be shown, proof the defendant’s actions caused this breach and lastly the damages sustained by the plaintiff must be shown (Lau & Johnson, 2014). Medical professionals have a duty to perform medical care to their patients. If an error is made during their medical care that causes injury or death to a patient, their duty has been breach. Proof of this error and that it was the doctor’s responsibility must be shown. The injury or death must be explained as a result of the doctor’s