For a patient who has been left with a surgical instrument during the operation, it does not matter whether it was negligence or medical malpractice. The doctor is responsible in both cases.
The doctoracted negligently when he did not show due diligence and knowledge while practicing his profession. When human life is at stake, the effects ofneglectcan be serious, irreversible, and tragic. Every doctor is required to be familiar with the latest achievements in medical knowledge, because his professional duty is to complete and improve his skills.
Lack of knowledge can be the basis of doctor's fault. However, if he does not recognize an extremely rare disease, not yet described in the basic medical literature, he cannot be blamed for culpable negligence.
What else is required of a general practitioner, something different from a specialist in a given field, from a provincial hospital and from a specialized clinic of a medical academy.
There is, however, a certain minimum of medical care and knowledge that should always be expected. And it does not matter whether the medical procedure was paid or not, because the doctor's duties are independent of the legal relationship between him and the patient.
Doctor neglect - how is it different from medical malpractice?
Typical examples of medical negligence are the cases where various surgical instruments or dressings are left in the patient's body after an operation. The Supreme Court ruled in 1967 that leaving a gas compress in the abdominal cavity after surgery, which resulted in the patient's death, is gross negligence of the doctor in charge of the operation. He is to blame not only for the shortcomings of medical knowledge, but also for organizational negligence and the lack of control over the work of the entire operating team.
In 1999, the Court of Appeal in Lublin awarded compensation for harm to a patient who was sewed up after the gallbladder surgery. in the abdomen, surgical forceps 17 cm long and 8 cm wide. They were the cause of pain, treated without effects, as kidney, liver, pancreas and heart diseases, because such diseases were subsequently diagnosed by doctors. The presence of the forceps was revealed after 6 years on an x-ray. made privately on the initiative of the same
Leaving a foreign body usually makes the doctor responsible, carelessness is obvious. The presumption of operating guilt could be refuted by extraordinary, proven circumstances (e.g. operating in difficult conditions outside the hospital).
Neglects in the course of surgical operations are the most spectacular, but other examples can be given. How often there are mistakes in administering medications in hospitals, and there are no basic resources necessary to save the patient's he alth and life. In one of the provincial hospitals, it was not possible to administer the serum to a patient bitten by a viper, because the nurse with the key to the medicine cabinet left "for a while", which lasted several hours. Typical examples of negligence are also violations of the basic rules of maintaining cleanliness and aseptics. The subject of lawsuits for damages is the dangerous infection of hospital patients with the virus of infectious jaundice.
Another negligence is the high-profile issue of excessive exposure of sick women during anti-cancer therapy, which caused them burns and radiation sickness.
Complaints against doctors may be submitted to the regional medical chamber (referred to the professional liability ombudsman), and claims - to the civil division of a common court. You need to collect the results of research done at the time of the negligence or error. Their copies should be attached to the statement of claim or complaint.
What is medical malpractice?
Something other than negligence ismedical malpracticemisdiagnosis (diagnostic error) or therapy (therapeutic error). Contrary to negligence resulting from various circumstances, the error is objective in the sense that the doctor, while practicing his profession, did not follow the current canons of medical knowledge.
Diagnostic errors often lead to tragic consequences. In one of the hospitals, a patient with a ruptured duodenum died because a doctor diagnosed her with pancreatitis. Another died because she was not diagnosed with an ectopic pregnancy, despite the characteristic symptoms.
Recently, a trial was completed before the District Court in Lublin against doctors who misdiagnosed and then incorrectly operated on the patient. They only removed the fibroids, not noticing the other medical conditions that required them to have their uterus removed. This is an example of both a diagnostic and a therapeutic error. As a consequence, the patient developed inflammations and serious complications. A judgment was passed in this case, awarding damages.
Art error means not only an objective contradiction withprinciples of medical knowledge. It also has to be culpable by the doctor in order to be held responsible for it. In the opinion of the Supreme Court, there are no such grounds when the error is not at fault and the incorrect diagnosis "was justified by the occurring symptoms." The problem is therefore very complicated and in each specific case requires a detailed and professional analysis of expert specialists.
Patient rights are defended by:
- Primum Non Nocere Patient Association,
ul. 29 November 10a room 8, 00-456 Warsaw, www.sppnn.org.pl - Patient Rights Office at the Minister of He alth,
free helpline: 0-800-190-590 (Mon - Fri 9.00 - 21.00) www.bpp.waw.pl