Legal Standards
Read the article shared with you in your email. Discuss how you feel about lawsuits. When do you feel that they are right? When do you feel that they are wrong? Is negligence intentional? What do we do as professionals to help our chances of being sued? Once you have answered all of the questions, read a classmates and reply to them about their thoughts.
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I am not able to take one side as to whether or not lawsuits are good or bad, but rather both. It all depends on the situation that took place for that lawsuit to be issued. For example, I believe a lawsuit can be a good thing if a doctor were to stop seeing a patient in need of care without any communication of this decision.As an example, on the other hand, I believe a lawsuit could be a bad thing when a phycologist is sued for failing to warn a third party that their patient is potentially dangerous, simply because they wanted to follow the law of confidentiality. This puts the phycologist in a difficult situation, because either way they are failing to follow the law. I do not believe negligence is always intentional. All humans make mistakes, including professionals in healthcare. However, this is not to make an excuse for carelessness and or intentionally ignoring the patience’s needs. Using social media is one way professionals increase their chances of being sued. For example, if the professional were to chat with a patient outside of state boundaries they could be sued for unauthorized practice if the government mandates that they are only allowed to treat within the state.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this statement, especially on how risky it is for some professionals to use social media to disclose information with others.
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ReplyDeleteLaw suits are a serious matter and should be taken into deep consideration and decided by a long thought process, as any number of things could attribute to filing a lawsuit. First, the party accused should most definitely be looked at for a license, and then proof of accreditation and/or certification. If there is no license, then this practice to begin with in as illegal matter, and by viewing the other two, we will be able to tell if a claim is justified or false. In order for a lawsuit to be just there must be clear evidence of malpractice or negligence backed up by a supportive claim. As stated in the article, these risks of lawsuits can be lowered by exercising in treating patients and complying with those standards, all the while staying in the restrictions of the law. By doing such things as showing negligence, leaving tools around, or taking to social media for unjust purposes, we only raise a chance to be sued.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you when you say that a lawsuit needs to be backed up with actual fact that there was malpractice.
DeleteI agree with your statement that negligence can be observed by looking at unjust social media posts and leaving tools around. I also agree with you when you stated that lawsuits are serious and they need to be taken into "deep consideration."
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ReplyDeleteBeing in healthcare there’s always a chance of something happening where a healthcare professional could end up getting sued. I think that lawsuits are good and bad. They would be good because of the fact that it would help patients who were actually treated poorly. However, there could be a patient who just did not like the way the treatment went even though nothing was wrong with it and then decides to sue. I believe that if patients are going to sue it should be a good enough reason. When the treatment is actually bad it is called negligence. There is intentional negligence where things happen on accident, but then there is the purposeful negligence where the professional knew what they were doing when they were doing it. Negligence is one of the biggest things that contribute to healthcare professionals getting sued. Other things include malpractice, using social media incorrectly, and fraud and abuse. As healthcare professionals I do not think it is that hard to keep from getting sued. If they follow their professions legal standards, then there should be no trouble with the patient and their care. As healthcare professionals we want the care of the patient to always come first, and when it doesn’t, that is when trouble begins which leads to a lawsuit.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you mentioned the fact that patients should not be able to sue just because they did not like how the treatment went. If their problems were treated and resolved, than the professional completed their job and should not have to worry about being sued. I also agree that by following all legal standards, medical professionals can avoid many law suits.
DeleteI agree that if a healthcare professional knows the legal standards and follows them exactly, then there should minimal issues with law suits.
ReplyDeleteI’m not sure whether I think that lawsuits are overall a bad thing or overall a good thing, but I do think that they can go either way. Sometimes, lawsuits are not the right thing to do depending on the situations, but there are times that lawsuits are a necessary nuisance. Lawsuits are necessary when it comes to a professional committing an act of malpractice or negligence in the workplace. In these times, I believe that it is important that the victim of the malpractice lawsuit must have proof of the malpractice. If there is no proof of the malpractice, then the lawsuit will most likely not go through. On the other hand, lawsuits are unnecessary when a patient just sues the medical professional solely because they would not give them the treatment they wanted. I found that negligence is an act of inattentiveness and carelessness and I believe that these are all examples of an act being purposeful and not accidental. As medical professionals, in order to avoid being sued, we should stick to only practicing what is in our scope of practice, only take actions that are legal according to the state law and always act in the best interest of the patient. If we follow these guidelines, we can be sure to avoid the majority of lawsuits.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it is important that is must be an act of negligent act for a lawsuit and not just a refusal of treatment.
DeleteI agree with the guidelines you proved to avoid possible lawsuits. By staying in your scope of practice, having the patients best interest at hand, and following legal obligations without exceeding those, the risk of a lawsuit being filed is very unlikely.
DeleteI can see how lawsuits can be seen both ways. They can be seen as either a good thing or a bad thing. They can attempt to resolve disputes between people or companies. I feel that lawsuits can be a good thing, but also a bad thing if they are used in the wrong way. I feel like lawsuits are wrong when a patient happens to not like the way that their treatment was going, just out of opinion, is the wrong way to sue a person. The reason the patient might do this is, they think that it is negligence. Negligence is when treatment that the patient is given is not up to standard and is considered low quality. I do not agree that negligence is always intentional. It can be an accident, or very minor. To help our chances of being sued as professionals, we must always take everything that the patient says into consideration. They know how they feel, we do not. So it is best that we listen to all that they have to say and base our approach to helping them back to where they were before with their health. The healthcare professionals must follow all of the guidelines. Examples such as practicing in the states that they are allowed to, or using social media involving the patient. If the healthcare professionals abide by all of the rules, they should have no issues with being sued. Any other way would be negligence, which can be misinterpreted and easily beaten.
ReplyDeleteI agree that listening to the patient is a great way to avoid getting sued because it allows them to voice their concerns and see how you can work with that. I felt that professionals should have no issues with being sued as long as they follow all procedures and ensure their treatment is up to standard.
DeleteI think you can make an argument that lawsuits are both good and bad at times. I think a lawsuit can be a very good thing in a circumstance where a medical professional would stop treating a patient when they were still in a state that needed more treatment. Another situation where lawsuits are significant is if a medical professional were to malpractice which means treating a patient in an unprofessional manner. I feel lawsuits are wrong when a patient simply decides to sue a medical professional because they did not give a patient a certain patient the treatment they desire, instead focusing on what they need. Negligence is when the care or treatment for a patient is not up to normal standards. I beleive negligence can be intentional and unintentional. There are times when a medical professional unknowingly is not treating a patient up to expectations, which can happen. However, intentional negligence can happen and this is when the medical professional knowingly does not take good care of the patient which can lead to medical professionals getting sued in some instances. For medical professionals to help their chances being sued, they can ensure they are always professional in treating of a patient and follow all procedures and make sure they're up to standard. Another good idea is to establish some sort of a relationship with the patient to make sure they know that you actually care about treating them and that you are doing everything you can to help them. If a professional does these things, they should be able to avoid being sued.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that lawsuits are good and bad at times. I also agree with the examples you presented.
DeleteI agree with your idea that lawsuits are both a good and bad at times. The way you describe how they can be bad shows how you can avoid the lawsuits all together if you just do not act with negligence.
DeleteLawsuits are helpful tools, resolving disputes and issues that should have, as the article states, been “resolved by other means.” Lawsuits are right when they are used to resolve issues dealing with malpractice. When medical professionals do just that through the form of negligence, than the patient definitely has a right to sue. For example, if a surgeon carelessly leaves a pair of scissors in someone, than they are putting their patient’s life at risk and should be held responsible. Lawsuits are especially needed when a professional willingly tries to cause harm to their patients. For example, a physician should be punished for performing or adding on to a procedure without the consent of the patient. Lawsuits can be used negatively by individuals who are just unhappy with the treatment they received, even though their doctors did everything correctly. Just because the professional’s care plan or healing style was different from what the patient had imagined or thought it would be, they should not be allowed to sue. Negligence is not always intentional. For example, negligence includes being careless and if a professional is having a rough day or dealing with personal problems, than they may unintentionally be careless without being aware of their actions. Although, if a medical professional truly does not care about their actions and how they affect their patients, than their negligence becomes intentional. There are certain actions that medical professionals can take to avoid lawsuits. These include performing treatments in their scope of practice, following all legal and safety procedures during treatments, and putting their full concentration on their patients.
ReplyDeleteI like how you make the point that lawsuits can be helpful tools that resolve disputes. I agree with your statements about the ways medical professionals can avoid being sued.
DeleteLawsuits are the American right of the people to settle arguments in a reasonable and civil way. If a healthcare professional commits a crime or is not doing their job correctly and it could possible to or has caused harm to an individual, these are intentional acts. So for legal actions to be taken and it be just is it must be malpractice or negligent acts in your practice. If it is simply a disagreement about something that is not breaking any laws, but the individual that is sueing thinks that they have legally been violated. To improve our chances of not being sued we can take precaution step into insuring that every act we are doing is professionalism. To do this we must always proactively think about what actions we are about to in the healthcare field, we must also think about everything we are going to say to guarantee that we are following all laws.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on how every act we do should always correlate with professionalism, because that will help people not get sued and do their job in the best way possible.
DeleteI believe that lawsuits are necessary in serious situations. We are human and part of being human is making mistakes, but when being part of any medical practice you are responsible for someone’s life. I feel as if a lawsuit should be used when it has a monumental effect on the person's well-being. For example, if a surgeon left a sponge in a patient's leg and they end up getting a serious infection. With this mistake the patient is going to need another unnecessary surgery that could have been easily avoided. I believe a lawsuit should not be used when a patient is trying to sue a medical professional for refusing to give treatment to the patient. Negligence is one way for a medical professional to get sued. Negligence is failing to do something that a sensible person would do in the same situation. Other than negligence you can be sued for malpractice, fraud, social media and abuse.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your statements and that lawsuits should be used in serious situations that cause serious harm to the patient.
DeleteThe definition of a lawsuit is a claim or dispute brought to a court of law for adjudication. I feel that lawsuits are necessary in the right situations. If something has been done to you that is wrong, illegal, or devastating to your life, I think lawsuits should happen. But if it is something minor that can be solved between you and whatever is harming you, then there is no need for a lawsuit and that situation should be figured out on your own. I believe you should always try to figure problems out between both parties first unless it’s a major incident. If one party is not cooperating and the problem is more than a petty issue, then a lawsuit is completely necessary. Negligence is not intentional. Negligence is just a person being lazy and not caring about the case or cases. When someone is accused of negligence, they are not intentionally trying to harm anyone. One thing we do to help our chances of not being sued as professionals is become certified. Another thing we can do to avoid lawsuits is be very careful and smart using social media. A third thing we can practice and do is avoid and stay away from everything concerning fraud and abuse.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your position in the legal issues. I also thought the examples you gave were great.
DeleteI feel that lawsuits are "right" when there is some sort of harm done to the patient or potential harm could be done to the patent. Lawsuits can be used to settle arguments and in the case where some harm was caused to the patient or there could cause potential harm, like leaked medical records, lawsuits are appropriate. However in a small number of cases lawsuits are taken to a level that is unnecessary based on the action that have happened. So while lawsuits can be helpful they can also be used as a tool to for unjust revenge against a professional. In either case to avoid a lawsuit it is important that the professional follows all rule and procedures down to the every detail. Doing this lowers the possibility that harm could be done. Another way a professional could avoid a lawsuit, on top of following all of the rule, is to use common sense and judgment. Doing this could cut down on a lot of unnecessary mistakes that can happen. Examples of this would to simply stay away from social media when it comes to the patient. Another way to avoid lawsuits and criminal action is to insure that all license and certification is up to date and valid. Doing these things can cut down on the possibility of getting sued. While there are ways to reduce the likely hood of being sued negligence is not intentional and can happen in any circumstance, even one where every conceivable precaution has been taken to reduce that chance of lawsuit.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Jess! I also think lawsuits are only right when there is some sort of harm or potential harm is done to the patient. I like how you brought up that a lot of cases are taken to an unnecessary level. I was thinking something very similar to that.
DeleteAs a medical professional, you need to know all of the risks involved with taking care of a patient, and one of those risks is the possibility of being sued by your patient for not doing the 'right' thing. I feel that lawsuits are necessary in order to insure that medical professionals are doing their job the way it should be done and that there is no malpractice or negligence involved. I do not believe negligence is always intentional because everyone makes mistakes and that sucks, but in the medical professional world, you are going to have to pay for your mistakes. With being a medical professional, you have to know that you need to do everything by the book and make sure that you are doing just as a reasonable prudent person would do in the same situation. You can help your chances of not being sued by always following the law and always executing your form of practice in the best and most right way possible. It's hard to know everything and to do everything right, but that's something that comes with the job and will determine if you are going to mess up and end up being sued by your patient.
ReplyDeleteMike I think that mentioning that medical professionals do make unintentional mistakes is something that many of us overlook just because we believe that they do know everything and like they are held to a higher standard. Your view of paying for their mistakes is definitely a different take on the situation than I took, but I find overall true to my beliefs as well.
DeleteMy overall feelings on lawsuits is that they are a good tool to create justice for a wronged individual. There are many times that I think a lawsuit is an acceptable action in healthcare. During times of negligence I feel that it is very important for the patient to sue. Suing that healthcare provider not only puts a financial burden on them, but also hopefully gets that healthcare provider to realize what they did was wrong. This is especially important when the healthcare provider intended to wrong the patient. On the other hand sometimes a lawsuit isn't the best solution to the problem. In some situations like where the patient doesn't like the outcome of an operation, the patient is going to want to sue, but as long a the healthcare provider told them what was going to be done and possible outcomes of such operation I feel that these lawsuits are not justified. As professionals, we should always strive to do the best work possible, and follow the many guidelines set in place to make sure that we remain professionals and do everything within our legal standards. That will be the best way to help the chances of not being sued.
ReplyDeleteI feel lawsuits are right only if the situations give it necessary to be right. For instance, if their was something to happen to the patient where their health is at risk or they aren't going to recover as fast as they were supposed to or anything along those lines than I think that lawsuits should occur. I think lawsuits can be used wrongfully though if the health care professional was not at fault or if it was something minor that can be easily fixed. In these situations there is no need for a lawsuit. Negligence is not intentional. They aren't trying to hurt anyone, they are just being careless and being lazy. What we can do as health care professionals is to make sure we are certified and they are up to date. We must also be sure to watch what we do and say on social media. We must also make sure to watch out for anything that can be considered fraud or abuse. If we do these three things than we can avoid someone trying to put a lawsuit on us.
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ReplyDeleteLawsuits are very important, even if people do not agree if they should be filed or not. My personal opinion is that lawsuits are necessary when there is harm or wrong doing to a patient, but I do not agree with lawsuits that are filed without significant reason. Suing a doctor or some type of healthcare provider simply because you do not like them is not a good enough reason to be justified. As a medical professional that was to commit a wrong doing towards a patient, you must know the possible outcomes of your actions. Being sued or losing your job in healthcare are very possible outcomes. As medical professionals, you should be putting the patients best interest at hand before your own and following all codes and laws pertaining to your job. By doing these things, you can cut down on the risk of being involved in a lawsuit or possible negligence.
ReplyDeleteIt is difficult to state my feelings towards law suits. I feel lawsuits are an okay method to solving disputes but only in certain situations. Most lawsuits that I have heard about, the person is getting sued for unjust reasons. Often time, people threaten others with suing just because they are angry, or they don’t like the person, so if the person does one tiny thing wrong they go crazy. After reading this article, I learned that there are elements that must be proven for a lawsuit to occur. The four elements include duty of care, breach of duty of care, causation (harm), and damages. If these four elements are proven, and proven to have been done on purpose, then do I feel a lawsuit should be filed. I also feel a lawsuit could be filed if the harm and damages are drastic. Otherwise, I feel it is wrong to file a lawsuit. There are different types of negligence, some of which are intentional. But as a health care professional to help avoid being sued, we need to avoid all forms of negligence if possible. The best way to do that is by exercising care when treating patients, doing only what you are authorized to do in the state, and obeying the standards of care.
ReplyDeleteLawsuits are a way for people who feel they have been wronged to express themselves. In my opinion and from knowing people who have faced lawsuits, the scenario and severity is only as intense as the person who is pressing the lawsuit. Lawsuitscan be for the better and can be for the worse but it all depends on the person. But if a client can prove that a person has broken a rule or standard that the person has to follow, and has been impacted in a negative way, then I full heartily think that a lawsuit should be necessary. But from a business/workers standpoint, some lawsuits are injusticable. Certain rules and standards that workers have to follow (not even including the medical field but construction worker, factory workers), seem unnesccary and make it harder to work and accomplish their job related goals. I feel what workers could do to prevent from being sued is have a good client-worker relationship. Along with that is good communication and wanting to achieve the same goals.
ReplyDeleteI like how you looked at not only the health professional point of view but also the business viewpoint. Lawsuits are able to occur in any field of work. I agree with you that in order to prevent a lawsuit having a good client-worker relationship and good communication is key.
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ReplyDeleteI believe lawsuits are right only when a health professional does not follow legal standards. I do not agree with lawsuits that happen because the patient believes they should have been given a different form of treatment. If the patient was successfully healed with the route of treatment the health professional decided to go with, then in this case I believe it is wrong to be able to sue the health professional. As professionals, in order to increase the chances of you being sued you preform malpractice or professional misconduct. Another common way for a professional to be sued is through negligence. The health professional fails to preform a given task that any sensible professional would do. Although negligence may not always be intentional, you still failed to act properly and give the patient the correct treatment. Negligence needs to be limited and therefore when it happens it needs to be taken care of and in some cases the professional may be sued, which I do agree with because although accidents happen, at the same time these patients are trusting these professionals with their lives.
ReplyDeleteI think that lawsuits can be a good thing or a bad thing. A lot of times lawsuits should not be used in certain situations. I think that lawsuits should be used in professional settings only, such as healthcare. Lawsuits would be helpful in situations where patients are actually treated poorly. The only problem with this is that patients file a lawsuit just because they do not like the way that their treatment went. This is one of the reasons I think lawsuits can cause more bad than good. A way to avoid lawsuits is to make sure that certifications and license are all valid and up to date. These things, along with practicing what is in our scape of practice, help reduce the risk of being sued.
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