Guide to Medical Labor Laws

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Medical negligence is the failure to act according to standard medical practices. Most of these malpractices have result to personal injury and even death. In defense, the government ratified certain laws to give the injured victims of these malpractices the their right to recovery. This article hopes to offer you basic knowledge about medical negligence and how the victim can pursue legal actions. A medical negligence claim has two opposing parties, the injured person or the plaintiff and the health care provider or the defendant, this is the one who allegedly failed to follow the standard procedures in the medical practice. In cases of deaths brought about by the neglect, the victim’s survivors are given the right to sue in behalf of the deceased.

Establish the elements before you sue. The plaintiff in the case of a medical negligence must establish these elements before they can pursue the case. That is;

• The healthcare provider owes a legal duty to provide care or treatment to the plaintiff.
• The defendants have breached the appropriate standards of their professions.
• The breach was indeed the reason of the victims’ injuries.
• The plaintiffs have sustained injuries or died due to the defendants’ negligence.

Negligence and malpractice are both unintentional torts that can happen in the medical setting. Let us define the difference between the two.

According to the book, “Fundamentals of Nursing,” of Barbara Kozier, et. al, “negligence is misconduct or practice that is below the standard expected of an ordinary, reasonable and prudent person, placing another person at risk for harm. Malpractice, on the other hand, is “professional negligence” that is, negligence that occurred while the person was performing as a professional.”

It is important to know the difference between negligence and malpractice, especially when you are a medical practitioner so that you are aware of your potential liability while doing your job or while simply helping others survive from an injury or sickness.

To sum it up, both negligence and malpractice are wrong acts which should be avoided especially by physicians, dentists, nurses and other medical specialists. Why? It is because as they are responsible of saving the lives of their patients.

According to Wikipedia, medical malpractice is �an act or omission by a health care provider which deviates from accepted standards of practice in the medical community and which causes injury to the patient.�

Medical malpractice denotes bad or unskillful practice by a physician or allied medical professional where the health of the patient is compromised. The failure of a medical professional to follow the standards of medical practice could earn legal consequences.

Medical malpractice can results in harm, injury, prolonged physical and mental suffering and even death of a patient while under the care of a medical professional. To prove this claim, the patient must prove that the failure of a health care provider to comply with the standards of medical care was the cause of his harm.