Malpractice and negligence

Malpractice and Negligence in Health Profession

Introduction

Malpractice and negligence are common issues in medical law and ethics . Both these terms are used when there is breach in "duty to care " Though both the terms are used interchangeably in some contexts the definitions of each of these terms are different . According to the DHSS , negligence refers to carelessness and is defined as "a deviation from the standard of care that a reasonable person would use in a particular set of circumstances " and malpractice refers to "failure of a professional person to

act in accordance with the prevailing professional standards , or failure to foresee consequences that a professional person , having the necessary skills and education , should foresee ' The term `malpractice ' is often applied to people in professional positions like physicians , nurses , public officers , lawyers and dentists in whose professions certain skills , standards of care and duties are obligatory (Stubenrauch , pg . 63 . Thus , it can be said that while `negligence ' is a general term , malpractice refers to carelessness on the part of a professional . In other words "negligence committed by a professional is malpractice , but not all malpractice is negligence (Stubenrauch , pg . 63 . This article elaborates general details about malpractice and negligence in medical profession

Why health professionals

Health professionals are often caught in the ethical dilemmas of these legal aspects because of the expectations of "standard of care from them . According to Wilcox (article street .com , these individuals are expected to display some level of professional conduct which is consistent with...