MEDICAL MALPRACTICE

Unfortunately, there are many opportunities for error in the health care process. In fact, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), medical negligence is the third-leading cause of death in the US. Numbers one and two? Heart disease and cancer.

Medical malpractice is legally defined as “negligence committed by a professional health care provider—a doctor, nurse, dentist, technician, hospital or hospital worker—whose performance of duties departs from a standard of practice of those with similar training and experience, resulting in harm to a patient or patients.” In plain terms, a surgeon may perform a surgery incorrectly. A doctor may share an inaccurate diagnosis. Or, diagnosis may come too late.