Question

Let's practice what we learned this week about duty, breach, proximate cause, and, damages. These are the elements of a medical malpractice case or any negligence case (for example, slipping on an old rotten tomato in the supermarket fruit aisle).

1. Tell us about malpractice or other negligence cases.

2. APPLY the 4 elements - discuss them in detail - duty, breach, proximate cause, and damages as they apply to your selected case.

Answer 1

1. Tell us about malpractice or other negligence cases.

The case of malpractice and negligence occurred in one of the hospitals that I worked as a nurse in. A patient was admitted in the hospital after he suffered discomfort due to high blood pressure. This patient was hospitalized and on the second day suffered a cardiac stroke and died. The physician assigned to treatment prescribed medication to reduce blood pressure and the nurse assigned to that patient did not give the right amount or concentration of the drug to the patient. This lead to elevated blood pressure levels and other associated complications which resulted in cardiac stroke. This is the medical negligence and professional malpractice case.

2. APPLY the 4 elements - discuss them in detail - duty, breach, proximate cause, and damages as they apply to your selected case.

i. Duty - In this case, it was the nurse's duty to monitor patient's blood pressure and administer him the correct medications on time. Due to the negligence of the nurse and failure to perform her duty the patient suffered cardiac stroke and his life was at risk resulting in death.

ii. Breach - In this case the nurse knew the patient had high blood pressure and a risk of the stroke if appropriate medical care is not given. Despite knowing the gravity of the health situation, the nurse still breached her professional responsibility which lead to stroke and threatened life of the patient.

iii. Proximate cause - In this case the proximate cause was that it was within the nurse's scope of work to administer patient with the correct drug in correct concentration on time to reduce his blood pressure and keep him away from risk.

iv. Damages - In this case due to the nurse's negligence and professional malpractice the damage caused was that the patient died due to improper medical care given and monitored blood pressure levels leading to stroke followed by death. therefore, the damage caused was death due to malpractice and negligence by the nurse.