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Medical malpractice is a legal cause of action that occurs when a medical or health care professional, through a negligent act or omission, deviates from standards in their profession, thereby causing injury or death to a patient. [1] The negligence might arise from errors in diagnosis, treatment, aftercare or health management.
A plaintiff must establish all five elements of the tort of negligence for a successful medical malpractice claim. [11] A duty was owed: a legal duty exists whenever a hospital or health care provider undertakes care or treatment of a patient. A duty was breached: the provider failed to conform to the relevant standard care.
Within the scope of tort law, negligence pertains to harm caused by the violation of a duty of care through a negligent act or failure to act. The concept of negligence is linked to the obligation of individuals to exercise reasonable care in their actions and to consider foreseeable harm that their conduct might cause to other people or ...
The Bolam principle addresses the first element and may be formulated as a rule that a doctor, nurse or other health professional is not negligent if he or she acts in accordance with a practice accepted at the time as proper by a responsible body of medical opinion, even though some other practitioners adopt a different practice.
Sentinel events can be caused by major mistakes and negligence on the part of a healthcare provider, and are closely investigated by healthcare regulatory authorities. Sentinel events are identified under The Joint Commission (TJC) accreditation policies to help aid in root cause analysis and to assist in development of preventive measures.
Usually city government has a duty of care to repair and maintain the sidewalk. In tort law, a duty of care is a legal obligation that is imposed on an individual, requiring adherence to a standard of reasonable care to avoid careless acts that could foreseeably harm others, and lead to claim in negligence.
Unwarranted variations in medical practice refer to the differences in care that cannot be explained by the illness/medical need or by patient preferences. The term “unwarranted variations” was first coined by Dr. John Wennberg when he observed small area (geographic) and practice style variations, which were not based on clinical rationale. [5]
In the law of torts, malpractice, also known as professional negligence, is an "instance of negligence or incompetence on the part of a professional". [1]Professionals who may become the subject of malpractice actions include: