Question

In this litigious society, health care professionals are increasingly becoming the target for lawsuits, both legitimate and frivolous. Does the threat of litigation make health care professionals more accountable or does it merely increase the cost of delivery (which is then paid for by society)?

Write an original response of 250 words and make sure to support your comments for your main post with at least two scholarly sources (your textbook can be one of them). For original threads and replies, use current APA style citations in-text and for references at the end. You must respond to at least two of your classmates with 75-word responses.

Answer 1

In this litigious society, health care professionals are increasingly becoming the target for lawsuits, both legitimate and frivolous. Does the threat of litigation make health care professionals more accountable or does it merely increase the cost of delivery (which is then paid for by society)?

While scientific advancements continue to flourish over the next few decades, so will the potential for malpractice. Current therapies and innovative technologies have provided new opportunities for taking responsibility for health care services. Most procedures are based on automation, which reduces the risk of an accident, which can also theoretically increase patient frequency and effect. The number of medical accidents has tended to rise dramatically following the introduction of several scientific developments over the past few decades. One research associated an rise of 100 per cent in the incidence of significant drug errors per 100,000 U.S. residents (from 1,09 in 2000 to 2,28 in 2012) (Hodges, N., et al., 2017). In fact , reports suggest that medical negligence is the third leading cause of death in the U.S. (Martin, M. , 2016). Medical accidents are entirely preventable and account for such a large proportion of deaths. Naturally, as a result of avoidable results that were attributed to incompetence by health care staff, culture would pursue lawsuits.

References:

Hodges N., Spiller H., Casavant M., Chounthirath T., Smith G. Non-health care facility medication errors resulting in serious medical outcomes. Clinical Toxicology, 2017; DOI: 10.1080/15563650.2017.1337908

Martin M., Michael D., Medical error—the third leading cause of death in the US. BMJ 2016; 353 :i2139

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