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Medical Malpractice: Who's Responsible? And Who SHOULD Be?

By Megan Roth

As mentioned yesterday, medical malpractice is a serious issue. It happens, folks – more frequently than we like to admit.

http://www.clipsyndicate.com/publish/video/840896

It happens across the globe, in a variety of medical fields, and can cause a more damaging/serious condition than that which was initially wrong.

And the worst part is the fact there are numerous individuals out there still claiming that medical malpractice is not an issue! Come on, folks – how would you feel if it was you who had surgery on your left knee, only to find out in recovery that it was your right knee with the problem?!

Granted, this is just one example of how wrong-site surgery may occur; there are, in fact, a wealth of others, each of wish is presents a very, very serious situation that proves damaging not only to the victim (I mean patient), but also to the surgeon involved.

It's true that, in

the event this happens (and it does happen), someone must be held accountable. However, it's unfortunate that it's often times the doctor who takes the brunt of the blame.the result of any combination of the following: A) poor preoperative planning, B) lack of institutional controls, C) failure of the surgeon to exercise due care or D) simple miscommunication (between the patient, nurse and doctor – or any combination of the three).long list of wrong-site surgery cases in which at least one of those individuals has been held accountable. Unfortunately, it's not always easy to determine which individual is at fault; sometimes, a doctor who is sued who wasn't the slightest bit responsible for a mishap (their name just happened to have been drug in).unforeseen implications that could potentially affect him for the rest of his life.Universal Protocol, a large number of such injuries could easily be prevented. Unfortunately, many don't (as they are too tired, too busy or just plain reckless).a claim will be filed (and, to be quite blunt, it should be).35 percent of such incidents result in malpractice suits; sometimes, the findings are just, sometimes they are less than desirable (to both the victim and potential future patients).

In reality, they're generally not the sole responsible party. Truth be told, wrong-site surgery is often

There's actual a

I'll be the first to say I don't think this is fair; however, it's also not fair that the individual(s) who are acted negligently aren't forced to step up. A surgery is distressing enough for a patient; he certainly shouldn't have to worry about

If doctors were to follow the

Thus, a suit is filed. Granted, research should be done beforehand in order to determine exactly who's at fault in the event a mishap should occur; however, in such events, a suit is necessary. When a wrong-site surgery (or any other form of medical malpractice) occurs, those in the medical profession must expect that

Yet, only

Even when a suit is resolved in favor of the victim, the financial payouts don't necessarily make up for what is lost.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Megan Roth

Full post as published by Des Moines Personal Injury Lawyer on April 11, 2009 (boomark / email).