Ethics 3 Flashcards
What is the tort of medical negligence?
Medical negligence describes when medical intervention in the treatment of the patient has contributed to the deterioration of a patients condition
What are the key elements of the tort of medical negligence?
Duty of care Standard of care Contributory negligence Causation Novus Actus Interveniens Res Ipsa Loquitor Remoteness of Damages
What is the phrase used to indicate medical negligence when there is a break in the chain of causation?
Novus Actus Interveniens
New intervening act
What is the phrase used to indicate medical negligence when the situation requires no explanation?
Res Ipsa Loquitor
The facts speak for themselves
What are some essential components of proof to succeed in a claim for medical negligence?
A duty of care was owed to the patient
There is a clinical standard of care
The duty of care or standard of care was breached and caused the patient harm or injury
What is the reasonable standard test in clinical negligence?
That a medical practitioner must possess and use the medical skill and clinical knowledge required in medical practice
What is meant by the duty of care?
That a medical practitioner should take reasonable care to avoid acts which he/she could reasonably foresee would be likely to injure the patient
What must be proven to establish medical negligence?
It has to be proved that the medical practitioner has deviated from a general and approved practice and that no other medical practitioner of like speciality and skill would have followed
What is contributory negligence and what is the outcome of this?
Contributory negligence is when the damage/injury is party due to the actions of the medical practitioner and partly due to the patient
-compensation for the damage will be reduced in proportion to the share of the responsibility by the patient
How is it determined if clinical negligence is the causation of the damages/injuries?
- If damage would have occurred in any event then it is not caused by clinical negligence
- If damage would not have occurred but for the medical negligence then it is the causation
If there are 2 events, how is it decided which one is the causation of damages/injury to a patient?
When there are 2 independent events, each of which is sufficient to have caused the damage/injury, then liability depends on the nature of the events and the order of which they occurred
What is a Novus Actus Interveniens (New intervening act)?
Is where the act of a third party intervenes between the medical practitioner’s act and the patient’s damage
-breaking the chain of causation
So even if the defendant had acted negligently the break in the chain of causation means the defendant is not liable
What is meant by the remoteness of damage in medical negligence?
That the damage/injury to a patient must be a foreseeable consequence of the act or omission of the medical professional
-If it is foreseeable the statistical odds of it happening are irrelevant, as it should be medically eliminated through proper clinical examination
