What is the difference between malpractice and human error?

Question

I dont have a case or anything but I was thinking of applying to medical school here in the US. And it seems that anytime the outcome is bad...they sue the doctor. I understand that sometimes there is malpractice and the doctor has to pay...but also things can go wrong without being the doctors fault..or it could be human error. How can this be controlled?

Answer 1

"Malpractice - The delivery of substandard care or services by a lawyer, doctor, dentist, accountant or other professional. Generally, malpractice occurs when a professional fails to provide the quality of care that should reasonably be expected in the circumstances, with the result that her patient or client is harmed" *

In medicine, this is a very serious issue since we're dealing with lives. The best you can do is prepare yourself--make sure you know exactly what you're doing. Study the patient's condition, the procedure, and the possible complications. Have presence of mind. If there are any possible complications, what can you do to prevent them? Know what drugs the patient is taking and know what special procedures have to be performed (does the patient have to have an IV? oxygen?). Make sure you've taken everything into account before making a decision.

It's also great to know and follow the hospital protocol and the law. That way, if you followed everything, it's easier to prove that you haven't done anything wrong because your action has a rationale. Also make sure that everyone who you give instructions to knows and understands your orders and also know what to expect (sometimes you might have to answer for their mistakes).

Answer 2

Human error would be entering data or recording data incorrectly. For example, putting on the chart that the patient gets 2mg of medicine instead of 200 mg.

Malpractice would be giving a patient a medicine knowing that the patient is allergic to it, or if you do something that you know you shouldn't do, such as doing a not so good job.

To control it, the hospital will make sure that you have insurance to cover any lawsuits.

Pablo