Question

Chapter 4: Principles of Liability Study the 18 Learning Objectives, specifically: #7: Define the meaning of Standard of Care #8: Explain the role of Standard of Care in medical malpractice cases #9: List the methods a plaintiff may use to establish the Standard of Care in medical malpractice cases.

Answer 1

Standard of care: A standard of care is a medical or psychological treatment gideline, and can be gneral or specifc. It specifies appropriate treatment based on the scientific evidence and collaboration between medical and/or psychologicl professional involved in the treatment of a given condition.

The role of standard of care in medical malpractice cases.

Most medical malpractice cases hinge on whwther a health care professional was negligent in treating (or failing to treat) a patient. And medical negligence is always measured by the medical standard of care that applied in the specific treatment setting in which the patient was harmed.

The 'medical standard of care' is typically defined as the level and type of care that a reasonably competent and skilled health care professional, with a similar background and in the same medical community, would have provided under the circumstances that led to the alleged malpractice.

In a medical malpractice lawsuit, it is almost always a qualified expert medical witness who will testify as to what the appropriate medical standard of care was under the circumstances -- and how the doctor's deviation from that standard payed a role in the plaintiff's injuries. In fact many states have passed laws requiring that a medical malpractice plaintiff retain an expert who has experience in the same (or at least similar) medical field as the defendant.

The methods a plaintiff may used to establish the standard of care in medical malpractice cases.

In most medical malpractice cases, there will need an expert to testify on the behalf of that expert. This expert (who is almost always a doctor) will usually need to be trained and experienced in the same field as the health care professional that treated to that expert.

The expert will need to:

1. establish what the standard of care is.

2. testify as to exactly how treatment was below the standard of care, and

3 testify as to exactly how were harmed by the sub-standard treatment.

The following are some of the most common examples of medical malpractice:

1) sub-standard trauma care provided immediately following a severe accident.

2) mistakes monitoring the amount of anesthesia a patients needs.

3) mistakes made monitoring the heartbeat of an unborn child during labor.

4) amputating the wrong body part.

5) falling to account for all sponges and instruments following surgery.

6) administering medications that are documented to be fatal allergens.

A medical malpractice claim requires the plaintiff to prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, four elements:

1. that the defendant owed a duty of care to the plaintiff.

2. that the defendant deviated from the applicable standard of care.

3. the plaintiff suffered damages.

4. the damages were directly caused by the defendant's deviation.

In order to successfully navigate a medical malpractice acton, it is critical to undersatand the burden of the parties and the applicable standard of care.