One of the most complicated and important parts of the law has everything to do with how it deals with the medical field. The medical field is one where there are lots of dangers. Though good things are quite obviously done within the field, there are lots of products and procedures that can produce injuries that go far beyond what took place previously. Defective medical devices, for instance, can present instant danger to patients. Drugs, too, can become dangers that can kill and seriously injure patients. The question becomes how the law should handle these issues. The answer is that the law tries to equitably assign the appropriate levels of blame to all parties who are responsible.
Bearing the burden with defective medical devices
When defective medical devices are at play, the law is quite peculiar. Some states handle this under products liability law, so the important question is how doctors are treated. The majority of states assign no blame to the doctors who install medical devices into patients. Though traditional products liability theory would place some blame on the doctors, most states have carved out an exception for these professionals. Still, the hospital can bear some responsibility for the condition of the devices, especially if the hospital is actively selling those devices to patients.
The bulk of responsibility, though, falls on the manufacturer of the good. The company that made the defective medical devices will usually have to answer for the damage done by the product. This is true as long as the product has not been tangibly changed over the course of time. The injures caused by these products can fall directly in the lap of the manufacturer if there was some defective condition in the design, manufacturing, or in the warning labels placed on the product.
Bearing the burden for dangerous drugs
This is a question that has been answered by the courts in many states. For dangerous drugs, the doctor prescribing the drugs is generally not responsible unless he knew or had reason to know that the drug was dangerous. This is an especially high standard, though, and doctors are typically not implicated when they prescribe approved drugs. When the drug defect is discovered after the fact, the doctor simply cannot bear the burden.
The drug manufacturer is often the one to blame in these instances. Likewise, if a situation arises where a victim took the drug so long ago that he or she could not identify the maker of the drug, the courts will sometimes proceed under a market liability theory. This occurs when many cases are brought about the same kind of drug. The courts will impose liability to the entire industry of that drug, ensuring that each pays a part.
Contact an experienced Phoenix defective medical devices Attorney for more information.
Goldberg & Osborne, a Mesa car accident and medical malpractice law firm, makes available this material solely for providing general information. The content was written by an independent author and is provided as is. Goldberg & Osborne will not be responsible for any errors or results arising from the use of its contents.
Originally posted 2011-06-05 23:17:07. Republished by Old Post Promoter
Tagged: Bearing, Dangerous Drugs, Defective Condition, Doctors, Liability Law, Medical Devices, Medical Drugs, Medical Field, Medical Play, Medicine, Products Liability, Warning Labels June 6, 2011
Nearly 225,000 people die each year in the United States because of some type of medical error. Failure of medical professionals to exercise caution in the diagnosis and treatment of patients has also caused legal cases against physicians, hospitals and other healthcare facilities. Generally, only a small percentage of medical malpractice cases lead to compensation from a lawsuit.
While a treatment or diagnosis may cause an unanticipated result, this does not necessarily mean malpractice has occurred. Typically, medical malpractice laws should protect patients’ rights to receive compensation due to medical negligence. However, a malpractice suit can become complex and difficult to prove.
Types of Medical Malpractice Cases
A number of medical malpractice cases are brought against a physician, hospital or other medical facility. Most cases involve a failed diagnosis, hospital errors, prescription drug errors, birth injuries and surgical errors.
A prescription drug error is one of the most common forms of medical malpractice. More than 7,000 deaths occur from this type of error, according to the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP). Unfortunately, many prescription drug errors are unreported and include countless injuries beyond the death statistics. Some medication errors are caught before a patient is harmed.
Healthcare that does not meet the acceptable standard of care during a birth is a form of negligence. Statistics show that approximately seven in 1,000 births have a birth injury incident. To prove a medical malpractice case, documentation must show that either the newborn or the mother suffered injuries from a negligent act.
Surgical errors continue to present a challenge. It is estimated that nearly five of every 10 procedures in the U.S. result in medical errors on a daily basis. A number of pre-surgical and postoperative mistakes occur. Some surgeons may damage an internal organ during a procedure, causing a severe injury or death. Surgical errors may also occur from a late or misdiagnosis of a medical illness.
According to the Bureau of Justice, nearly half of the medical malpractice cases in the U.S. are against surgeons. Nearly 25 percent of U.S. physicians are sued annually. Even interns are subject to a medical malpractice case.
Deaths Attributed to Medical Malpractice
Medical malpractice is considered the third largest cause of death in the U.S. Unnecessary surgery causes the death of nearly 12,000 patients. A variety of errors within a hospital causes the death of approximately 20,000 patients. Infections in the hospital have caused 80,000 deaths.
Contact a Medical Malpractice attorney for further information.
This article was written by an independent author. Goldberg & Osborne, a medical malpractice law firm in Phoenix, has not reviewed or edited its contents, and will therefore not be accountable for any irregularities or errors in the information contained in the article. Â This article is not a substitute for a legal consultation.
Originally posted 2011-06-06 00:15:33. Republished by Old Post Promoter
Tagged: Birth Injuries, Case Documentation, Daily Basis, Death Statistics, Drug Error, Healthcare Facilities, Internal Organ, Malpractice Suit, Medical Error, Medical Errors, Medical Facility, Medical Malpractice Case, Medical Malpractice Cases, Medical Malpractice Laws, Medical Negligence, Medication Errors, National Association Of Boards Of Pharmacy, Negligent Act, Patients Rights, Prescription Drug Errors June 6, 2011
One field of law that sees a large volume of cases every single day is medical malpractice. The complexity of and differences between medical malpractice cases have made this subsection of the law rather complicated and diverse. There are many different kinds of medical malpractice. Below is an overview of some of the most common kinds.
This article is for educational purposes only. It should not be used as legal advice, consult with an experienced Phoenix medical malpractice attorney.
Misdiagnosis
One of the most common kinds of medical malpractice is misdiagnosis. It is also a form of medical malpractice that often results in very large payouts to plaintiffs. Misdiagnosis, in the simplest terms, occurs when a medical professional fails to properly diagnose an illness.
Misdiagnosis can happen for many reasons. For example, a doctor may not have been paying proper attention during an examination. A healthcare professional may also have been unaware of knowledge that he or she should have known when analyzing a patient’s condition.
Whatever the case, the consequences of misdiagnosis can be extremely severe. For example, if a doctor misdiagnosed a tumor as being benign after a biopsy when it was actually malignant, it could mean the death of the patient.
Surgical Errors
A second common form of medical malpractice occurs due to mistakes made during surgery. Again, this form of malpractice may simply occur due to the carelessness of a healthcare professional. One common example occurs when the wrong limb of a patient is amputated. This could result in the patient losing two limbs instead of one.
Sometimes a surgeon may be unqualified to perform a certain surgical procedure. If a surgeon, for example, makes rudimentary mistakes during open heart surgery that he or she should have been trained to avoid, that surgeon can certainly be held liable for the consequences of that lack of knowledge.
Birth Injuries
Lastly, another one of the biggest subfields of medical malpractice is birth injuries. Birth injuries often occur due to the negligent actions of healthcare professionals that assist mothers during the process of birth.
The reasons that medical malpractice could occur during a birth are many and varied. For example, a doctor may not make the correct decision to perform a caesarean section during a difficult labor. If this call is not made, it could mean the death of the child or ever the mother under certain circumstances.
In other cases, it may be due to tools being improperly used during the birth. For example, many birth injuries are the result of forceps or vacuums harming the child during delivery.
The consequences of birth injuries can be extremely severe. It could mean the death of the child or mother. If the child survives, he or she may grow up with certain disabilities and conditions that resulted from the birth injury such as Erb’s palsy or cerebral palsy.
Goldberg & Osborne, a personal injury law firm, has provided this article for informational purposes only, written by an independent author, and has not reviewed or edited this article and is not responsible for its content or accuracy.
Originally posted 2011-06-18 05:55:21. Republished by Old Post Promoter
Tagged: Biopsy, Birth Injuries, Carelessness, Complexity, Different Kinds, Educational Purposes, Healthcare Professional, Lack Of Knowledge, Legal Advice, Malpractice Law, Medical Malpractice Attorney, Medical Malpractice Cases, Medical Professional, Open Heart Surgery, Phoenix Medical Malpractice Attorney, Plaintiffs, Proper Attention, Single Day, Subsection, Tumor June 6, 2011
A defibrillator helps re-establish normal rhythm in a heart that has either stopped beating or is beating erratically. It achieves this by sending a short electrical shock to the heart.
Fibrillation occurs when isolated muscle fibers within the heart begin contracting out of coordination. The contractions are usually rapid and may occur at different intervals in different areas of the heart, creating a vibrating effect. This can result in an irregular heartbeat, a decrease in pumping activity and, possibly, cardiac arrest. The shock from a defibrillator interrupts the cycle and allows the heart to return to a normal rhythm; often, CPR alone cannot achieve this result.
External Defibrillators
The defibrillators familiar to most people require medical personnel to choose the strength of the electrical shock delivered to the heart. The manual settings allow for individual assessment of a patient’s condition and the use of medical knowledge in making the determination. The shock may be applied outside the body or, if during open-heart surgery, directly to the heart.
Automated external defibrillators, known as AEDs, have become more prevalent in recent years. Many first responders use them, they are increasingly available in public places ? including shopping malls, airports and schools ? and members of the general public now have access as well.
AEDs remove the guesswork. Voice commands steer the user through every step, including proper placement of the flexible pads on a person’s body. The AED assesses the patient’s heart rhythm and concludes whether a shock is needed and at what strength. Minimal training is required to use an AED, and their accessibility has the potential to save many lives.
Internal Defibrillators
For people with life-threatening arrhythmias, conditions where the heart frequently beats erratically, an implantable cardioverter defibrillator, or ICD, can quite literally be a lifesaver. An ICD is implanted beneath the skin under a patient’s collarbone. Thin electrodes may connect to the heart, although more modern devices have gone wireless. Wired or wireless, the device uses long-term battery power to constantly monitor heart rhythms.
ICDs can generate small pulses to regulate a heartbeat that’s too fast or too slow. More than a pacemaker, they can also deliver an electric shock if fibrillation occurs, and they record every action taken in order to provide data to medical personnel. The devices require periodic monitoring via radio transmitter, and they are designed to emit a warning signal months prior to a battery’s expiration.
As efficient and helpful as ICDs can be, they have resulted in some deaths; the defective medical devices involved were removed from the market.
This article has been written by an independent author, and is intended solely to provide information to the public. Goldberg & Osborne, a medical malpractice law firm in Arizona, does not warrant that the information provided is accurate and complete. They will not be responsible for any occurrences that may arise from the use of the information provided.
Originally posted 2011-06-05 06:35:50. Republished by Old Post Promoter
Tagged: Aed, Aeds, Automated External Defibrillators, Cardiac Arrest, Contractions, Electrical Shock, First Responders, Guesswork, Heart Fibrillation, Heart Rhythm, Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator, Internal Defibrillators, Intervals, Irregular Heartbeat, Lifesaver, Manual Settings, Medical Knowledge, Muscle Fibers, Open Heart Surgery, Shopping Malls June 6, 2011
People go to hospitals and doctors’ offices in order to feel better; however, there are an unfortunate number of incidents every year that result in people being subjected to errors during treatment that can actually lead to injury. Worldwide, about 1 in 10 patients in hospitals fall victim to medical error, with the proportion being slightly lower in the United States. Every year, over a million people in the United States alone are believed to be injured as a result of medical error, and of these people, some 40,000 to 200,000 people die as a result of these complications. This has led to an estimated million deaths from error since 1996.
Of these deaths, about 7,000 people died due to medication errors; this is more than the total number of workplace deaths in the nation, which is only 6,000. When Medicare patient records were studied for 39 million cases of hospitalization, it was found that over 280,000 people had died as the result of easily preventible injuries sustained in hospitals. Of course, these estimates assume that patients would have lived a substantial time had they not been injured, so many of these estimates take into account patient conditions that would have allowed the patient to live for more than three months after the time of hospitalization.
The economic impact of such injuries and deaths due to associated costs and time lost from work is substantial. It is estimated that just preventable medication errors cost the nation $2 billion a year. Another $3 billion each year is the estimated cost to Medicare of preventable hospital-related injuries. Drug-related injuries were estimated to cost hospitals and taxpayers some $887 million annually. Therefore, medical errors create a heavy burden, not only on the medical profession, but on the nation as a whole, since taxpayers often must help recoup the losses due to errors.
Negligence is the cause of many medical errors. In fact, “adverse events” are reported in about 1 percent of all hospital intake cases. It is important to remember, however, that mistakes are actually more common than this, since only adverse events reported soon after these incidents that have quantitatively or qualitatively measurable effects are considered in this 1 percent estimate. Patients should therefore be aware of treatment options and be watchful for adverse effects that may have come about as the result of a stay in the hospital.
This article is provided as information only and not intended as legal advice in any means or manner whatsoever, Kenneth J Allen & Associates P.C. provides focused legal counsel and representation within the area of medical errors and has provided this for informational purposes only.
Originally posted 2011-05-23 02:57:39. Republished by Old Post Promoter
Tagged: Adverse Events, Economic Impact, Heavy Burden, Hospital, Hospitalization, Medical Error, Medical Errors, Medical Profession, Medicare, Medicare Patient, Medication Errors, Medicine, Negligence, Patient, Patient Conditions, Patient Records, Pharmaceutical drug, Proportion, Startling Statistics, Substantial Time, Taxpayers, Three Months, Trauma (medicine), Unfortunate Number, Workplace Deaths June 6, 2011
