And So The Journey Begins...

Ever since I was younger, I have always wondered why and how our country is structured the way it is. Whether it was questioning how traffic laws work when I was nine years old, or now, questioning how the medical and legal worlds intertwine, I have always been fascinated by the art of law. Knowing this, it is no surprise that I chose medical law as my topic in ISM. Even though I have always been curious about the law, I have yet to pursue any in depth research. That is why my initial search this week into the intricacies of medical law proved valuable to me.

Before beginning my research, I'll admit I had many preconceived opinions. My first thought was that medical law was already a narrow topic within itself. I quickly realized that this is not the case and, in fact, there are many subtopics within medical law itself. These include: medical malpractice, informed consent, patient privacy, end-of-life care, reproductive rights, and access to healthcare. After reading more about what each subtopic consisted of, I decided I wanted to hone my attention on medical malpractice law. I chose this subtopic because in the future, I want to defend patients who have been subjects of negligent healthcare practice.

I started my research by looking up the most accurate and complete definition of medical malpractice. According to The Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code, medical malpractice occurs when a health care provider administers “treatment, lack of treatment or other claimed departure from accepted standards of medical care that results in injury or death to the patient.” From there, I wondered what was needed from a patient to make a malpractice claim. I found that in order to have a successful claim, the following four elements must be proven: A professional duty owed to a patient, breach of such duty, injury caused by the breach, and resulting damages. That led me to wonder what would be considered or ‘counted as’ medical negligence. Another preconceived opinion I thought before researching this week was that malpractice just concerned big, life-threatening mistakes, such as messing up during a surgery or prescribing the wrong medication. However, I quickly realized that as long as a patient (or the patient's attorney) can prove all four elements of a malpractice claim, they can sue for essentially almost anything, not limited to life threatening scenarios. This includes releasing a patient too early from the hospital, misreading lab results, or recommending an unnecessary surgery.

Overall, this week I learned about the subtopics of medical law, choosing to focus on medical malpractice specifically. I also learned the parts of a malpractice claim as well as what constitutes as negligence. Though, I still have many questions. Some include the following: Are there different severities of negligence? Can emotional damage be considered an injury? How do you prove the four elements of a malpractice claim in court? There are way more questions I have not listed and that is why I am so excited to continue this research and hopefully find the answers to all my questions!