Question

It has been said that the best way to avoid committing medical malpractice is to always treat the patient as if s/he were your brother, mother, sister, father, best friend, etc. In one case, a female patient who had just undergone a hysterectomy was mistakenly identified as needing an ultrasound of the bladder and taken off to ultrasound. Her bladder was filled with saline, causing a surgical suture to tear loose. The patient was never asked her identity and her ID bracelet was never checked, despite her complaints that she was not supposed to have an ultrasound. She later suffered wound dehiscence, requiring a subsequent repair surgery. This resulted in a lawsuit. Do you think a lawsuit could have been prevented by telling the patient about the mistake?

Answer 1

The term “negligence” refers to the failure to perform an action that is inconsistent with the accepted standard of care. If the medical professionals fail to follow the standard of care, the professionals those that are responsible for decision making are liable for injuries faced by the patient, and it is considered as an act of negligence. For example, performing more than two attempts to draw a sample and failing to call for assistance is an act of negligence.

In about 40% of the cases, filing a lawsuit for negligence or malpractice might be prevented, if the healthcare professional provides appropriate explanation and offer the necessary treatment to the patient to recover from the injury caused without cost. So, the same may work in the given case.