Facts:
The respondent is Marline Monroe a patient who brought suit in court alleging that she was caused bodily harm through medical negligence. She was injured in a serious accident on June 2, 2015. The patient suffered a fracture of the left leg that was improperly set. This resulted in permanent disability and Volkmann’s contracture. Dr Ben Bruce (defendant) recommended the amputation of the leg and the surgery was booked for June 7, 2015. However, during the surgical procedure, the right leg was amputated. This caused irreversible damage and bodily harm. She suffered physical and emotional disability.
Procedure:
This is a trial court decision where a person seeks to acquire legal redress due to medical malpractice.
Issues:
Who is liable for a patient’s injury during a medical malpractice?
Holding:
Patients suffering from a medical malpractice injury may be able to hold the medical care providers liable for injuries inflicted on them under special rules that apply to this type of professional negligence. In such a case, the doctor fails to demonstrate the level of proficiency that a similarly experienced and trained doctor would have shown under the experiences.
Court Reasoning:
Only when patient injured as a result of a doctor’s negligence may hold the health care providers responsible if he or she can prove the four essential elements that constitute a medical malpractice claim. The four elements include; the health care provider had a duty to the victim, the harm directly caused injury for which the patient may receive compensation, the breach of duty caused harm, without which the damage could not have occurred, and lastly the duty was breached. In this case, Dr. Ben Bruce amputated the wrong leg of Marline Monroe. Dr Bruce had a medical obligation to provide the plaintiff with competent medical care. The doctor breached that duty through improper care demonstrated through amputation of the wrong leg. The plaintiff was awarded 1.3 million dollars as a form of compensation for damages caused regarding pain and suffering. The doctor’s medical license was also revoked.
Question 1
Yes, I agree with the outcome of the case. Dr. Bruce carried out a medical malpractice on two accounts. First of all, the fractured leg was wrongly set causing Volkmann’s contracture. He also amputated the wrong leg causing massive pain to the patient who suffered both physical and emotional trauma. Revoking the doctor’s license was necessary to prevent future cases.
Question 2
A similar case would be an incidence where the victim arrives at the hospital with a fractured two weeks after the accident occurs. This results in delayed treatment causing more harm to the patient. In this case, the doctor is not liable for the complications that arise from the delayed treatment.
Question 3
The case relates so much to what I have studied. In all personal injury cases, the burden lays with the plaintiff to prove his or her case. A patient must, therefore, prove that the professional was liable. The standard of proof used to assess whether a specific plaintiff has established his case is a preponderance of the evidence standard. This means that the plaintiff must prove beyond a reasonable doubt with facts that the other party’s acts caused harm.
Question 4
The case fits within the point of law resolved. Health care providers have a duty to treat his patients with competent medical care.
Question 5
This case applies to today’s situation when many experts carry out different forms of professional malpractice. For example, health care providers can perform acts such as misdiagnosis, neglect and medical errors.
Question 6
Effects of this case may be encountered in various work situations. Many victims report such cases where they experience a lot of suffering due to neglect on the part of medical practitioners. For example, the death of patients due to medical malpractice such as misdiagnosis by doctors.
