Legal and Ethical Issues of a Medical Error Case
Order Description
1. Summarize the legal aspects of this case. Identify the laws that were, or may have been, broken. Who was, or may have been, liable?
2. Did the provider fail in any way to adhere to ethical standards? How might this have impacted the patient outcome?
If noted in the scenario how did the provider interact with the patient or family after the error came to light?
3. Discuss the pros and cons of having the provider disclose and apologize for the error to the patient or family soon after the occurrence. What are the legal and ethical implications of this approach? In general, how might this approach impact the physicians, nurses, technicians, or others who may have contributed to a medical error that harmed a patient?
4. In what ways can health care administrators help prevent the kind of error described in the scenario from happening in the first place? How can they assist the providers and organization after such and error occurs?