MEDICAL MALPRACTICE
Hawaii Medical Malpractice
Investigation
Have
you endured the stress and pain of unnecessary surgery?
Have you suffered
an unexplained death in the family?
Was there a
dramatically different or unexpected result of treatment or
surgery?
Did the provider fail
to give a good explanation for a worsened condition of the patient or of
the sudden death of the patient?
The most common cases of malpractice are:
1. Failure to diagnose a condition
or to diagnose a condition in time to treat it properly;
2. Failure to observe and monitor
the patient;
3. Failure to perform surgery
properly, and
4. Failure to treat a condition
properly
Inadequate care may be the result of
iatrogenic problems, those caused by the physician in the course of his
or her treatment of the patient.
For example, one review estimated that
twenty percent of pacemaker operations may be unnecessary (Barron,
James. 1989. "Unnecessary Surgery." The New
York Times Magazine, April 16).
Another study indicated that the average
hospital has a twelve percent daily error rate in administering
medication for patients (Cialdini, Robert B.
1985. "Influence: Science and Practice."
Glenview, Ill.: Scott, Foresman and Company).
A study of New York patients reported
that almost four percent received a disabling injury while hospitalized
and more than a fourth of the injuries were due to negligence (Goldman,
John J. 1990. "4% got Disabling Injury in N.Y.
Hospitals, Study finds."Los Angeles Times, March 1).
A Rand Corporation study of twelve
hospitals in the South and West concluded that common medical errors
caused about a fourth of all patient deaths from heart attack, stroke,
and pneumonia (Scott, Janny. 1988.
"Study Links 9 Common Medical Errors to Death."
Los Angeles Times, October1). "Medical Errors"
included everything from prescribing the wrong drugs to miss diagnosis
of a stroke.
There has been cases of physicians
providing AIDS patients with misinformation (such as death within
months) that led to suicides or murder-suicides (Lynch,
Robert D. 1989. "Psychological impact of AIDS on
individual, family, community, nation, and world in a historical
perspective." Family and Community Health 12 August).
More recently, the Institute of Medicine,
an arm of the National Academy of Sciences, reported that more Americans
die from medical mistakes than from breast cancer, highway accidents or
AIDS. Medical mistakes kill as many as 98,000 hospitalized
Americans a year. The problem is caused less by recklessness on the part
of doctors or nurses than by basic flaws in the health system.
Doctor's poor handwriting too often leaves pharmacists puzzled.
Too many drug names sound alike. Medical knowledge grows so
rapidly it is difficult to keep up with new treatments or dangers.
Medical devices change from year to year. And most health
professionals do not have their competence tested regularly.
(As reported by the Honolulu Advertiser,
Advertiser News Services, November 1999.)
Contrary to the expectation and attitudes
of Americans, medicine is an inexact science. Physicians, hospital
personnel, and medical technicians all make mistakes.
Malpractice suits are not just the result
of greedy and contentious patients.
Medical
Malpractice Defenses:
A patient's consent to the doctor's
treatment may prevent the doctor from being liable for an intentional
tort.
Note However: A
patient's mistake as to the essential nature or consequences of the
invasion (treatment) of his or her person or property is treated as a
mistake of fact and voids any consent to such invasion.
It is on this very basis that a
patient's consent to surgery or other medical treatment is sometimes
held ineffective, thereby exposing the doctor to liability for
battery.
Where the patient asserts that he or
she consented to the surgical procedure performed, but that he or she
had not been adequately informed of the risks and benefits of the
procedure, the claim is generally treated as one for negligence rather
than an intentional tort (battery).
Doctors have a duty to disclose relevant
information about benefits and risks inherent in proposed treatment,
alternatives to that treatment, and the likely results if the patient
remains untreated.
There are only two exceptions to the
doctor's duty of disclosure that are recognized: Emergencies and
Therapeutic privilege.
Caveat: Most
Courts hold the patient responsible to show that if properly informed
neither he nor a reasonable person in similar circumstances would
have undergone the procedure.
Let us Discover the facts with a thorough
investigation.
We do more than just take pictures.
We offer support services for litigation, from on-the-scene and pretrial
discovery to concluding analysis and expert testimony.
The Bureau's services are predicated on
knowledge of Civil Laws (Torts) and their Defenses
which is the primary foundation of an investigator's perspicacity
essential for evidence discovery and acquisition. Our
requisite professional credentials have earned us the compulsory
credibility necessary to educe cooperation from individuals
with relevant and reliable information We know what to look for,
what to ask, how to ask, and whom to ask.
Our reports are comprehensive, thorough,
and may include addenda of supporting documentation, videos, photographs
and/or drawings.
Above all, we are committed to the
axiomatic norms of professionalism. All investigations are
confidential and conducted within the parameters and limitations of
authority using personal initiative in the management of all cases at a
nominal expense.
Talk to us for a free
consultation we may save you an enormous amount of money on pre-trial
discovery, investigation inquiries, and evidence acquisition.
It is economically prudent to investigate
your case before litigation. If you have an attorney, have him give
us a call.
