Duties of health care providers Flashcards
How are med-mal suits different than normal negligence?
there is no question that there is a duty of care or that the patient is a foreseeable plaintiff, The question is the standard of care, how it’s proven, how it is breached, and was the doctor’s negligence the factual cause of the plaintiff’s harm.
How is the traditional medical standard proven?
Through expert testimony unless common knowledge of laymen would be enough.
How is expert testimony used in med-mal?
The medical standard, that the doc’s conduct fell below that standard, and that the doc’s conduct was the factual cause of the harm
How do courts handle more than one medical standard?
as long as the doctor’s conduct is advocated by a considerable number of recognized and respected professionals, then they won’t be held liable.
Can apologies be used as evidence in med-mal
depends on the jurisdiction
What is the strict localities rule?
The doctor’s conduct is measured against other doctors in the same community
What is the modified locality rule?
The standard of care is that of the degree of care, skill, and proficiency exercised by doctors in similar localities.
What standard are non-physician practitioners held to?
the standards of their beliefs, as long as the patient is not deceived and if what they do does not otherwise violate the law.
The duty to refer
Medical practitioners have to refer patients to specialists when the standard of care requires it; a plaintiff has to show that the referral was needed and likely to lead to a better outcome.
Do pharmacists owe duties?
In most states a pharmacist has no duty to warn of side effects or problems with a physician’s prescription, unless the pharmacist voluntarily undertakes to provide warnings and negligently fails to do so. But in some states there is a duty to warn about serious contraindications are present or the drug carries an inherent risk.
the duties of hospitals
Hospitals owe a duty of reasonable care under national standards. Hospitals can be subject to liability if they fail to provide appropriate facilities, equipment, and staff support, or where non-medical personnel act negligently in a way that harms a patient.” Some hospital negligence is administrative or non- medical in nature. When that is so, the reasonable care standard applies, not the medical standard.
Gross negligence
Even in an emergency situation liability still exists for gross negligence. Which is absence of even slight diligence on the part of the treating physician.
The rule for informed consent
A physician owes the duty to disclose in a reasonable manner all significant medical information that they possess or reasonably should possess that is material to an intelligent decision by the patient whether to undergo a proposed procedure.
Reasonable information a doctor should have?
The info a doctor should reasonably possess is that which is possessed by the average qualified physician. In instances of a specialty, then the average physician of that specialty.
The materiality of information for informed consent
The significance,a physician knows or should know, a reasonable person would attach to the disclosed risks in deciding whether or not to undergo a surgery or treatment.
