i still see it under failure to treat. they never even ran blood work.
Medical malpractice has the following four essential elements. All four
of these elements must be proven for malpractice to be established.
[1]
Duty of care resulting from a relationship between the patient and the
caregiver. Associated with this is a minimal "standard of care" (duty of
care).
The question here is "Did the caregiver agree to treat
the patient?" If the answer is YES, then an appropriate degree of skill
and competence is required (the minimal standard of care). In addition,
there may be instances where the caregiver has a duty to persons other
than the patient. For example, should a patient suffer an epileptic
seizure that leads to an accident to others (as in a car accident), the
caregiver may be liable for their injuries as a result of failing to
diagnose the patient's epilepsy or for not warning the patient against
driving when the diagnosis of epilepsy was established.
[2] Breach of that standard of care by caregiver (breech of duty)
This
is usually established by expert court testimony that defines what the
acceptable standard of care is and that explains how the caregiver did
not provide that care. Of course, expert witnesses for the other side
will argue the exact opposite.
[3] Injury to the patient
This
is often easy to establish, as in when the patient has had the wrong
kidney removed, but it can be more difficult to establish, for instance,
when the injury is psychological.
[4] Proof of the injury was caused by the breach of care (proximate cause)
Proximate
cause can be determined by asking if the patient would have been harmed
in the absence of the caregiver's actions. For example, would a patient
undergoing an appendectomy have been harmed if the surgeon had not left
a sponge in the patient's addomen? If the answer is NO, then the
surgeon's actions are deemed to have caused harm to the patient, and
thus fit the causation requirements.
A person accused of
malpractice can mount a defence by showing that one of the above four
elements is missing. For instance, he or she may argue that the injury
to the patient was preexisting and not caused by the caregiver.
Common
theories (types of claims) of malpractice include: 1) lack of
appropriate care; 2) lack of informed consent; 3) negligent supervision;
4) patient abandonment etc.
how about we file it under lack of appropriate care and call it a day?