Medical malpractices arise due to medical mistakes that may occur during the treatment of a patient resulting in an injury. Medical malpractices are said to occur due to negligence from the health care provider during treatment, resulting in a patient’s death or injury. In malpractice cases, the patient suffers from various injuries such as medical bills, hardship, unusual pain and loss of income. Medical malpractice laws can be used by the patients concerning the results, which give various characteristics that should determine the malpractice cases. Once the patient gets the injury, they tend to sue to get an explanation of what happened and get an apology.
The patient may sue the hospital so that it can disclose the accident and carry on an investigation into the case. The lawsuits allow the patients to get the disclosure of what happened from the physician to establish the standard of care. The injured patient may experience a very stressful and dramatic situation as they are injured in an unforeseen incident, especially when the injury comes from their trusted individual. The hospital will have to disclose the medical errors that occurred to the patient to demonstrate significant values to the patient, such as honesty and trust, which shows that they are concerned with the patient’s safety. However, the explanation of what happened to the patient will reduce their anger as it will result in a settlement between the two parties.
Once the patient gets a disclosure of what transpired, it creates room for an apology to the patient, where they get compensation. Patients expect compensation that should help them to recoup the economic losses they have experienced from the injury, such as getting cover for medical care in future and compensation for non-economic hardships (Bal, 2019). Therefore, injured patients usually sue to get full disclosure, including an explanation of what happened and an apology. The patient may be seeking an apology as a way of preventing the repeat of the medical error and advancing on the improvement of the future outcome.
The healthcare profession prefers explaining and apologizing to patients to prevent them from suing a malpractice lawsuit, which may be costly. The health care professionals offer an apology to the patient as a way of perceiving admission and helping reduce the increased medical malpractice litigation. Physicians may offer sympathy and apologize for medical mistakes to reduce malpractice claims (Hodge, 2020). Despite the healthcare profession apologizing to the patients, their statement may place them at increased liability risk. The statement may be used as evidence of the fault by the plaintiff in pursuing their legal claims.
Moreover, the statement by the physicians as a way of expressing sympathy to the patients is admissible in court without considering the admission of liability. People are taught at a tender age to apologize once they hurt someone is feeling, either intentionally or accidentally, as a way of admission responsibility. The behaviour is taught by the society as well as different religions. Apologizing is used to solve any problem between the two parties. When people grow older, it becomes harder for them to admit the mistake and apologize due to fearing the consequences that may follow their acceptance.
In contrast, physicians are known to offer comfort and apology to patients experiencing any medical injury. However, they may need help to do either since their statement may result in a lawsuit and the statement be used to sue them in a court of law (Wojcieszak et al., 2007). Hence, the physicians may avoid any alteration that can be viewed as an admission of liability.
Therefore, the physicians are concerned about disciplinary action once their statement is used in the lawsuit. The physician will avoid giving any statement that might indicate admission despite having the legally protected forums to avoid being used against them. Physicians also fear the high cost of their professional reputation, and they have to protect it by avoiding altering any statement (Wojcieszak et al., 2007). The cost incurred as a result of the burden from the lawsuit is also high.
The development of state laws and other alternative methods of solving disputes have enabled apologies without liability. The state law directed the health care professionals to apologize to the patient, which will not be used against them in the lawsuit. Normally, when an individual apologizes to someone, it helps them release their anger healthily, where they easily undergo the grieving process and restore what was affecting them. Biblically, people are taught to apologize when they offend someone to acknowledge their fault and recognize the harm caused to the patient, thus restoring their agency (McMichael et al., 2019). Likewise, offering an apology by the health provider to the tent as a result of the medical malpractice allows the patient to feel cared for, and it restores their dignity from cared for and
They issued an apology led to the possibility of increased willingness to settle the dispute with the patient. Once the healthcare provider apologizes to the patient and the admission the responsibility, the patient is more likely to accept their offer of settling the medical dispute without the lawsuit. As the apology is offered, the two parties get a chance to negotiate their differences which can promote settlement in the discussion process. When the patient gets a complete explanation and an apology from the physicians, they are comfortable and satisfied and may not be willing to sue. The introduction of the compensation program helps reduce the cases concerning the lawsuit. The legal claims reduce as the patient are comfortable as they are paid back their injuries. There is also the introduction of traditional tort reforms, which alter the court warding of damages to the defendants, which helps in decreasing liabilities (McMichael et al., 2019). Traditional tort reduces the payment size made to solve the claims of medical malpractices by patients. Hence, patients will not prefer lawsuits as the best method of solving their disputes.
Injured patients should be provided with an explanation of what happened and an apology by the healthcare profession. The explanation helps the injured patient to reduce their anger and stress that was as a result of stress. Most physicians fear offering any statement to their patients as it may be used against them in the lawsuit. Physician statements to the patient should be protected by the law and prevented from being used against them in the lawsuit. The law will help reduce the occurrence of the suit as the doctors will be able to apologize, and their words of empathy will be viewed as an admission of responsibility. Therefore, the use of an apology by the physicians to the patients is very significant as it will help to lower the cost that may be experienced in the process, which is very expensive. Healthcare providers should encourage the use of the state law on apology and other methods to solve disputes in medical malpractices without involving liability.
References
Bal, B. (2019). An introduction to medical malpractice in the United States. Clinical orthopaedics and related research, pp. 467, 339–347.
McMichael, B. J., Van Horn, R. L., & Viscusi, W. K. (2019). ” Sorry” is never enough: How state apology laws fail to reduce medical malpractice liability risk. Stan. L. Rev., pp. 71, 341.
Wojcieszak, D., Saxton, J. W., & Finkelstein, M. M. (2007). Sorry works!: Disclosure, apology, and relationships prevent medical malpractice claims. AuthorHouse.
Hodge Jr, S. D. (2020). Should a Physician Apologize for a Medical Mistake?-The Controversy over the Effectiveness of Apology Law Statutes. Clev. St. L. Rev., pp. 69, 1.
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