Law and Healthcare

RUNNING HEAD: Law and Health Care

Law and Health Care

Barbara C. Hagerman

Danita Hunter DHA, PMP

Health Care Policy, Law and Ethics

April 22, 2012

1. Identify and explain the four elements of proof necessary for a plaintiff to prove a negligence case.

Four elements are essential to prove negligence: (1) a duty of care, (2) breach of that

duty, (3) injury, and (4) causation (Showalter, 2007). Every case that appears before a court has two sides to it. The person making the claim, or plaintiff, is responsible to present the facts, causing the claim, and ensuring that the court hears all the evidence in favor of the complaint. The plaintiff needs to prove that the person who is being blamed, or defendant, was in violation of common law duty owed to them. Evidence that would be presented would range from witness statements, medical records, expert testimony and invoices/receipts, just to name a few. The defendant has a duty of care with which he must uphold to. A duty of care involves an obligation that a person in a specific role has to make sure others and the public, as needed, are taken care of. This involves attention, watching out for anything that can go wrong, prevention and making wise choices about steps taken in a role. Frequently, if a duty of care is not met in a role that requires it, then the responsible person can be held accountable for allowing negligence to occur. These situations then provide the basis for a lawsuit in the legal arena (Lutzenberger, 1999).

Proving that a duty was breached becomes a little harder. This means proving that the care fell below the reasonable professional standard. If no reasonable physician would have misdiagnosed the person, treated the person the way they did or made such a mistake as the doctor made, then the person can prove this element of the case. Sometimes, proving this is easy. In the vast majority of situations where a medical malpractice case...