Malpractice Cases In Hospitals; Staff Negligence And Consequences Essay

Topic we will be researching in this article is regarding medical malpractice cases that occur in hospitals. Hospitals are corporations responsible for providing the best possible med care to their customers. It often occurs that due to negligence of staff members the patients have to suffer damage, disability or in extreme cases death. It is the responsibility of hospital management to keep an eye on their staff and apply certain disciplinary action. It has been noted that in recent times the occurrence of these unfortunate incidents have increased greatly. Due to these events there has also been an increase in cases relating to malpractice cases in which usually the hospital is being sued along with the medical practitioner. Purpose of this research is to highlight the reasons due to which these cases occur and what methods can be applied to control the increase of these cases.Malpractice Cases In Hospitals; Staff Negligence And Consequences Essay. For this purpose, data has been gathered from fifty individuals who have been part of such malpractice cases. This data was then processed in order to analyze the results. It was found from this study that it is indeed the responsibility of management to keep an eye on such cases and look for more competent staff.

Introduction

The term corporate social responsibility has a wide meaning which covers many areas and accompanies a few definitions. It can be defined as

“The continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic Social development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as the local community and society at large” (Carrol,1991)

Organizations make up a large part of the economy and it is their duty to take care of the society by implementing a level of ethical standards. There has been controversy regarding roles played by this idea as some believe that it increases long term profitability of the corporation while others argue that it takes companies away from their economic role. It is also believed to provide organizations with aid in achieving organizational goals. Business ethics are merely a component of applied ethics that are represented by actions of the organization. (McWilliams,2000)

ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER NOW

Hospital in which the incident occurred is Emirates hospital often names as Dubai hospital located in Dubai. It is an internationally recognized hospital said to be 100 bed beacon oh progress. It aims at providing personalized real time health care solutions. Located at Jumeriah Beach along with the Dubai Canal. Decision to form this hospital started in 1977, however its operations started after March 1983. Building consists of 14 stories out of which first two are for emergency and accidents. A school teacher went to get operated for a dislocated shoulder which the doctors said would require an operation. Malpractice Cases In Hospitals; Staff Negligence And Consequences Essay.However, after the operation, same issue occurred again on which doctors advised another surgery. After undergoing numerous surgeries, her problem still remained while the doctors kept on suggesting surgeries. Tired of the doctor’s behavior, she filed a case against the emirates hospital demanding that she be compensated and these negligent doctors be checked. Hospitals should implement more transparency in their operations and take up a sincerer approach in understanding the community. These strategies will also serve to assist in looking up other social issues and improve image among the public. It has been seen that the private sector makes up greater portion of the industry and hence contribute more to global development. These measurements are not limited to economic issues but also engulfs effort from both society and environment. Medical organizations which are failing to implement social aspect in their corporate structure risk denial from the society without which it is not possible for the hospital to carry out its operations in a sustainable manner. Most crucial threats which an organization faces regarding this matter is reputation risk. Patients of a single medical institution is not limited by this threat but might adversely affect the whole industry. Affects can be understood that reputational crisis leads to loss of trust in medical institutions, patient loyalty along with extra charges that incur with legal actions. Damaged reputation not only takes years to rebuild but also requires extra funding. Such organizations are not only the choice of customers but also provide attractive workplace for employees due to which they can retain quality staff with more expertise. This advantage can be utilized in various hospital functions such as development. Investors not only look at financial data while making investment but also check the social image of the institution before making the final call. Hospitals holding a bad reputation are more less likely to receive grants and donors as compared to socially responsible hospitals.

Background

In previous times it was observed that most of the medical services were carried out by hospitals which were either run on charities or controlled by the government(Danzon,2004). Regimes of that time made sure that the liabilities of these institutions are limited. Later on it was seen that the number of private medical institutions are increasingly greatly in number and the first and the first recorded case of a medical institution being reliable for the injuries caused to patients was recorded in these medical institutions(Brenna,2004). Cases of medical malpractice mostly increased during the 1980’s which now have become a nuisance. Other developed countries who believed to be immune to this problem also ended up facing this problem.  Although the legal system in United Kingdom and Canada are less favorable to plaintiffs, yet still the level of malpractice claims is rising at a rapid pace(Epstein,2006). Once the subject of medical malpractice was obscure to most people and rarely mentioned but in today’s time it has become one of the mostly hotly debated topic. Numerous reasons are present due to which there was a massive surge in debates. This pace of rising importance can be credited to the vast number of medical malpractice cases coming to surface in today’s time. Damage caused to patients which affect their quality of life and cause incomprehensible emotional damage along with large award that usually carries with malpractice cases has made it a deep concern for patients, hospitals and insurance companies(Baker,2011)Malpractice Cases In Hospitals; Staff Negligence And Consequences Essay.

Problem Statement

Malpractices in hospitals occur every day and it is not a new thing. Incident that occurred in this hospital which brought attention to this case is when a school teacher went to get operated for a dislocated shoulder which the doctors said would require an operation. However after the operation, same issue occurred again on which doctors advised another surgery. After undergoing numerous surgeries, her problem still remained while the doctors kept on suggesting surgeries. Tired of the doctor’s behavior, she filed a case against the emirates hospital demanding that she be compensated and these negligent doctors be checked. Sometimes the victim of such incidents recovers but some may end permanent harm which may result in disability or even death. Such actions need to be carefully examined by the board of the hospital and proper disciplinary action be taken to prevent these tasks from repeating themselves in the future. Often these malpractices may lead to law suits which ultimately damage the name of the hospital and involve heavy penalties. This negligence may be due to actions of doctors, paramedics, nurses, nursing assistants, technicians etc.

Research Objective

In this research, researcher is focusing on social responsibility factor of medical institutions. Region of United Arab Emirates will be studied in this case. Cause for choosing this study is the medical malpractice case that occurred in emirates hospital in Dubai. Such cases show that the lack of social responsibility present in medical institutions such as hospitals, and the role of management in rectifying these issues is still at question here. Due to this there is a dire need to find out ways through which such events can be reduced, and these institutes demonstrate more social responsibility. Also, the causes behind such unfortunate incidents and what factors lead to these events. If the main root of the problem is identified and steps be taken to better understand it, then this problem can be minimized.Malpractice Cases In Hospitals; Staff Negligence And Consequences Essay. Challenges and risk that medical sector must face due these issues will be mentioned. If a remedy is found, then this will be saving medical institutes a lot of expense which they faced in rewards for litigation cases and insurance purchased for malpractice. It is necessary to outline the main cause for which the research is being carried out so that a more goal-oriented method can be applied. Following are the objectives which we hope to achieve through this study.

• To investigate how seriously the corporate responsibility is being taken
• To study cases of malpractice that occurred previously
• To find the reasons behind such instances
• To find the role played by the management staff in such cases
• To find out remedies to decrease such case and make the hospital management more responsible

Literature Review

It is the role of medical practitioners to carry out their work with utmost care and responsibility as the life of patients is in their hands. Similarly, hospitals need to mold their organizational structure in such a way that check is kept on responsibility of doctors and they are answerable. Medical malpractice is a legal cause of action that occurs when a medical or health care professional deviates from standards in his or her profession, thereby causing injury to a patient.

In my view the scenario is quite sensitive as man has no proper control over the human body and several complications can arise due to numerous reasons. It is not necessary that damage was done to patient just because the doctor was negligent, but the human body is not predictable, as life and death isn’t in our power. There are numerous types of malpractices such as

• Failure to diagnose or misdiagnosis.

• Errors that occurred during labor are of many types such as not arranging enough blood, undue complications etc. Such types of errors put the life of both mother and child at risk

With passing time, it has been noted that the physicians concern for the sole wellbeing of the patient is slowly fading away. Numerous factors can be blamed for this changing trend, mainly the relationship that exists between a doctor and his patient. In previous times a single person usually diagnosed patients but now a team of doctors carry out this function so we can say they are becoming less emotionally connected to patients. Medical technologies are also moving the patterns present in medical diagnoses. Malpractice Cases In Hospitals; Staff Negligence And Consequences Essay.Practitioner role has moved to specialist and subspecialists. Movement of medical facilities changed from offices and homes to clinics and hospitals. Due to this the treatment of a person has moved away from a single doctor and now is being done by either a group of doctors or the whole institution which added the factor of impersonality in medical diagnosis. This might be seen as the base due to which the basis were set out for increased litigation cases and this less close doctor patient relationship led to a number of misunderstanding. Affluence of doctors give a clear indication that their concern is closely related to maximizing their earnings. This has led to an increase in unnecessary surgeries and other forms of medical fraud. It was concluded by a survey that most patients are starting to feel doctors are more concerned about making money rather than the care and wellbeing of patients which was seen 20 years back or so. This trend is quite obvious by checking the medical claim rates which was 564 in Newyork during the year 1970 but it steadily grew to 1975 in 1200. (The Role of Custom in Medical Malpractice Cases, Richard N. Pearson)

In previous times it was observed that most of the medical services were carried out by hospitals which were either run on charities or controlled by the government. Regimes of that time made sure that the liabilities of these institutions are limited. Later on it was seen that the number of private medical institutions are increasingly greatly in number and the first and the first recorded case of a medical institution being reliable for the injuries caused to patients was recorded in these medical institutions. Medical industry is rapidly growing but still it lacked a proper legal system that will call for the properly accountability for malpractice conducted by medical practitioners. Original sin of enterprises is giving rise to the tradition of negligence without fault which removes the accountability factor from its staff and other medical personnel. There has also been evasion of such cases by using the excuse that injury was not caused by the staff of organization but rather by personnel who are just part of the hospital but not included in it. Sometimes the claim involves that the medical practitioner was hired on contractual basis or their professional services are beyond the control of employer.Malpractice Cases In Hospitals; Staff Negligence And Consequences Essay. Role to be played by administration staff of the hospital cannot be ignored and they are expected to apply appropriate accountability measures and treat all related personnel as employees. (Compulsory “Hospital-Accident” T Insurance: A Needed First Step Toward The Displacement Of Liability For “Medical Malpractice” Albert A. Ehrenzweigt)

Once the subject of medical malpractice was obscure to most people and rarely mentioned but in today’s time it has become one of the mostly hotly debated topic. Numerous reasons are present due to which there was a massive surge in debates particularly due to the rise in number of malpractice litigation cases. This pace of rising importance can be credited to the vast number of medical malpractice cases coming to surface in today’s time. Damage caused to patients which affect their quality of life and cause incomprehensible emotional damage along with large award that usually carries with malpractice cases has made it a deep concern for patients, hospitals and insurance companies. Some measures are being taken in which hospital arrange special accounts for malpractice awards but the solution is only temporary one as the rising price of healthcare is a great hazard for all community and economy. Medical practitioners who have to face the burden of dealing with malpractice costs might think that they can make up for it by charging extra for their services, but this puts strain on many people involved in this industry. Doctors have gone on strike against the increased premium amount on malpractice cases which even led to violence. Insurance companies have discontinued their business in states where the cost of working has become too high. (Medical Malpractice: The Case for Contract, Richard A.Epstein)Malpractice Cases In Hospitals; Staff Negligence And Consequences Essay.

Statistical information is present with each treatment regarding the mortality and morbidity rates which informs the patient about the amount of risk he is exposed to. Since this knowledge is already given to the patient, this puts in question the medical malpractice litigation cases that are brought against hospitals. In most cases there are two main factors on the basis of which the legal case is filed. One, negligence or malpractice that occurred on the behalf of informed consent. Sometimes the warning that was given to patients before there treatment is used against them in legal cases where hospitals involved are referred separately focusing the case on the medical practitioner. (The Admissibility of Evidence in Malpractice Cases: The Performance Records of Practitioners Paul D. Rheingold)

Most hate causing events in the medical sector are malpractice litigation cases which are viewed to be random and causes unwanted expenses in the form of penalty. They are often named as lottery for patients as they usually get huge amounts of cash award for the cases. As for the patients it is their shield against medical carelessness. A number of factors are taken into consideration before declaring whether case of medical malpractice has occurred or not. These factors include whether the medical practitioner has provided quality of treatment require by standards. In order to determine this, the view of expert is taken regarding the matter. After determining that the case is indeed medical malpractice then disciplinary action is taken against the personal involved along with the institution. In order to remove emotional stress from the doctors, penalty involved is usually expected to be paid by medical institutions because of their pool of resources and pool risk through various insurance contracts. Many of these institutions are now taking up malpractice insurance coverage due to the recent increase in such cases. All hospitals and doctors are using various lines of insurance to cover these claims and the amount spent on insurance depends on the previous history of the institution as to how many cases incurred in the past. Reputation of the hospital is also deeply affected by these cases.Malpractice Cases In Hospitals; Staff Negligence And Consequences Essay. Medical practitioners are not rated on this scale unless they have been sued a number of times in their past history. Such persons will need to get insurance from companies which charge higher rates or might not get coverage at all. (Medical Malpractice David M. Studdert, LL.B., Sc.D., M.P.H., Michelle M. Mello, J.D., Ph.D., and Troyen A. Brennan, M.D., J.D., M.P.H)

Cases of medical malpractice mostly increased during the 1980’s which now have become a nuisance. Other developed countries who believed to be immune to this problem also ended up facing this problem.  Although the legal system in United Kingdom and Canada are less favorable to plaintiffs, yet still the level of malpractice claims is rising at a rapid pace. From the analysis conducted in the survey it was found out that physicians from America are five to six times more likely to get sued in malpractice cases as compared to the doctors from United Kingdom or Canada. For measuring the claim security, identical cases of that matter are brought into light through which an estimate can be achieved that what was the reward pattern for such scenarios in previous cases. It should be noted that the premium which is paid on these malpractice cases make a greater part of gross income earned by physicians as compared to that present in UK and Canada. In order to determine the impact caused by the misconduct to the patient can be measured by estimating cost to him because of the malpractice other than physical or psychological harm. (The “Crisis” in Medical Malpractice: A Comparison of Trends in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia Patricia M. Danzon)

Fundamental use of legal accountability system is to provide fairness and accountability to each person who seeks medical care. Benefit is not only limited to compensate certain individuals but to eradicate practices which are not up to certain standards. It is aimed at finding the wrong doers and holding them accountable for their actions. In most cases there is general sympathy for the patient who suffered physical and emotional harm while the sense of personal and social retribution also lingers which pushes these litigation cases. Main driver behind these claims are medical ethics and the increasing need to fulfill expectations of customers. Consumer pressure along with financial benefits are also important driving forces which call for professional competence, and this can also be applied to the medical profession. There is also a need to bring into light the other branches which play a major role in bringing patient to healthcare such as third party administrators or other who arrange healthcare. Malpractice Cases In Hospitals; Staff Negligence And Consequences Essay.Negligent injuries are to be screened and patterns of misconduct be recorded so the weak areas may be pointed out and appropriate disciplinary action be taken. Problem of medical malpractice is not limited to the matter of negligence on behalf of the practitioner and setting up insurances against it, but the main aim of such actions should be setting up higher standards for medical service quality. After a long time there has been seen a shift from issues of medical liability to a method of improving accountability for malpractice cases. (Medical Malpractice On Trial: Quality Of Care Is The Important Standard Randall R. Bovbjerg)

Effect of malpractice cases are also seen to have deep impact on the medical practitioner. Through a survey it was found that almost 59% of doctors have been sued at least once in their whole medical career. Out of these case, 47% involved a group of doctors while 12 percent of cases involved the name of a single practitioner in the case. A study was conducted to find out which profession faces greater risk of getting sued. Obstetricians and surgeons topped the list followed by orthopedists, radiologist and anesthesiologists. Out of the gynecologists surveyed it was found out that almost 85% had been in a malpractice law suit. Oncologist face the lowest risk of getting sued as only 34% faced such cases. Most common cause for filing a law suit is failure diagnose which made up 31% of the total cases. Other common reasons for these cases are failure to treat, administrating wrong medication, documentation errors etc. Once a doctor has undergone such a case then he becomes more vary of it and considers litigation risk during all his cases. Doctors who have not had such experience do not consider the risk unless the treatment is risky. They are often shy of taking help from medical organizations as in the survey almost 17% believed that medical organizations can do nothing about these law suits. Majority believe that they cannot help in these cases while 28% they are sometimes helpful. In view of the doctors, best way to reduce such cases is screening them before they go to trial. Such analysis will be done by a team of experts. Further there should be a limit on reward for non-economic damages. (Liability for Medical Malpractice, Patricia M. Danzon)Malpractice Cases In Hospitals; Staff Negligence And Consequences Essay.

Negligence and malpractice was not relatable in older times but still the physicians of older times were still held accountable when any misconduct was caught in their work. With time the liability associated with this medical profession kept on increasing over the years and became inescapable as the concept of negligence was now seen from a sociopolitical perspective. In the 19^th century the courts held physicians liable if they failed to properly treat patients according to standards of ordinary care. Although the doctor would be free from such accountability if he followed the approved method for medical care. Many changes have been seen in this form of judgement as the physician is no longer given general immunity but rather he is the advice of medical professionals is taken to determine whether there was any negligence on behalf of the medical practitioner. Although in negligence law generally, evidence of conformity to custom is relevant and admissible,6 medical malpractices supposedly are governed by a different rule: In medical malpractice cases failure to establish non-conformity is fatal to the plaintiff, and the defendant who establishes conformity is entitled to a directed verdict. (One Hundred Years of Harmful Error: The Historical Jurisprudence of Medical Malpractice Theodore Silver)

Methodology

In this portion of the article we will be discussing the various research approaches, design, strategy and data collection methods that can be applied to gather information regarding medical malpractice cases that occur in hospitals and how patients claim against these practices. Methodology can simply be defined as the method of doing something. Using this term from research perspective, we can say that it is the outline on which research will be conducted. Many decisions are to be taken while making the outline of methodology which varies from one type of research to the other and totally depends on the conditions. Major decisions that have to be made are relating to the design, approach, strategy and method applied for the collection of data.Malpractice Cases In Hospitals; Staff Negligence And Consequences Essay.

Research Type

Type of research which is being taken in this report is quantitative. This will provide a better understanding with numerical figures showing how people feel about malpractice cases and what were the response of victims. Qualitative analysis would not give an understanding as clear as that given by quantitative analysis. First hand data will make it more reliable and more related to local medical environment of UAE.

Data Source

In designing the pathway for research, it is also necessary to mention which sources will be used for data collection. Method used varies from the type of research being undertaken. Main methods of collecting data includes primary. Malpractice Cases In Hospitals; Staff Negligence And Consequences Essay.Method of collecting data used is primary data where information will be gathered by the use of questionnaire. Questionnaire will be compromising of two sections in which one will contain personal data about the participant while second will contain questions regarding the problem at hand.

  ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER NOW

Target Population

Data will be gathered from patients of the hospital who feel that proper treatment was not properly given to them or they feel like a victim of medical malpractice. Although this would be hard to find the candidates needed. Researcher can take help from previous cases of such incidents which occurred in the hospital. Data shall be gathered from around hundred people. The sampling technique which has been adopted here is the non-probability sampling. Under the non-probability sampling techniques, the convenient sampling has been chosen. This sampling is most suitable for the study. Under this sampling technique the data will only be collected from those of the respondents who are willing to fill the data. There is the possibility that at the time when the questionnaire will be distributed among the respondents some of them may have to do their task and they cannot fill the data at the spot. Since the people under survey are patients therefore extra care has to be taken to keep them uncomfortable. Therefore, it is not necessary that data should be taken on the spot but can also be collected through electronic media by mailing the survey to the client so that he may solve it whenever he wishes.Malpractice Cases In Hospitals; Staff Negligence And Consequences Essay.

Ethical Considerations

While undergoing such research it is necessary that some ethical principles be kept in mind. Researcher should keep in mind that participants of the survey are actually victims which have undergone discomfort due to negligence and their feelings be kept in mind. No such question shall be asked which may invoke certain emotions in the mind of the participant. Furthermore, no harm should reach the participants in any way due to this survey. Dignity of the participants will be prioritized. Purpose for which the survey is being conducted should be communicated along with ensuring them that privacy will be maintained. There is the possibility that at the time when the questionnaire will be distributed among the respondents some of them may have to do their task and they cannot fill the data at the spot. Since the people under survey are patients therefore extra care has to be taken to keep them uncomfortable. Therefore, it is not necessary that data should be taken on the spot but can also be collected through electronic media by mailing the survey to the client so that he may solve it whenever he wishes Data gathered in the survey will be confidential and only used for research purposes. Since the patients may also be suffering from emotional harm, there is a chance that biasness will be present in the data. In the start of the survey participants should be informed of the importance this survey carries and what effects it could have if data is not honestly filled. Malpractice Cases In Hospitals; Staff Negligence And Consequences Essay.