Malpractice Lawsuits Related To Neurological System Essay

Malpractice Lawsuits Related To Neurological System Essay

Prompt

The purpose of this assignment is for the student to analyze a malpractice case related to the neurological system with the aim of identifying avenues to improve the student’s practice.

 

Guidelines

Presentation of case

Pertinent data about the pt.

Circumstances surrounding the case. Hx of the case

What is the malpractice claim ie medication error, misdiagnosing etc.

How often does this occur?

Delineate strategies from the literature that prevent the occurrence.

Outcome of the case

How does this influence your practice?

What is your opinion on the case?

Malpractice Lawsuits Related To Neurological System Essay

 
Presentation of Case

In the malpractice case under consideration, the patient is a 45-year-old female who complained of continued headaches and disturbances in vision and balance. These symptoms were not diagnosed by the initial neurologist as anything more than migraines, even though no additional tests were carried out. Thus, the actual disease, an arteriovenous malformation (AVM), remained latent, and the patient experienced a massive hemorrhagic stroke, resulting in irreversible neurological impairments.

Identifying Information about the Patient

To the best of the patient’s knowledge, Mrs. Smith, the patient had no history of illnesses, was not taking any medications, and led a healthy lifestyle. She first complained of her illness three months before the stroke and was diagnosed a month later. Even though she had visited the neurologist many times, she was only prescribed migraine medication, and no imaging examination, such as MRI or CT, was done on her.

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Circumstances Surrounding the Case

The background of the case suggests medical negligence. Mrs Smith sought the services of the neurologist several times, complaining of worsening symptoms from her ailment. She did not get the proper attention she deserved from the neurologist as he dismissed her complaints and did not explore them further, thus leading to a delayed diagnosis. This negligence formed the premise of the malpractice suit itself, which involved claims of misdiagnosis and failure to diagnose a deadly disease (Hongjie, 2022).

The Malpractice Claim

The first and foremost actionable tort in this case is negligence and, more specifically, malpractice in the form of misdiagnosis and failure to diagnose. This negligence of the neurologist was responsible for not arranging the essential tests to diagnose an AVM, and led to a catastrophic stroke.

Frequency of Such Occurrences

Neurological conditions are often overlooked or misdiagnosed, so it is not a rare occurrence. A survey in neurology revealed that about 15 per cent of neurological diagnoses are wrong or given at the wrong time (Richards et al., 2020). Such a high percentage speaks to the need to enhance and be more careful when carrying out diagnostic procedures for neurological disorders.

Strategies to Prevent Occurrence

To prevent misdiagnosis and improve patient outcomes, Dave et al. (2022) recommend several strategies: The following measures can be implemented: Setting clear guidelines on how to assess common neurological complaints and investigate them to avoid overlooking other diagnoses, offering continuing medical education and updates to clinicians on the newer diagnostic approaches and treatment, embedding computerized decision support in electronic medical records to remind clinicians to consider more differential diagnoses and what tests are appropriate, and endorsing patients to seek a second opinion and patient advocacy, especially when symptoms persist or progress, to increase awareness of serious.

The outcome of the Case

She was awarded a legal settlement based on the outcome of Mrs Smith’s Case. The court was able to establish negligence from the neurologist, and Mrs Smith was able to recover her medical bills, loss of earnings and general suffering. The neurologist also received disciplinary measures, and additional training was ordered for him.

 

 

Influence on My Practice

It is a very sensitive case because it reminds me of the importance of comprehensive diagnostic evaluations. On this account, patient advocacy is advanced, whereby the practitioner must listen to the patient’s complaint or concern and rule out such serious diseases, especially if the patient is experiencing a relapse or deterioration of symptoms (Pichon et al., 2021). It also emphasises the need for doctors to always equip themselves with knowledge concerning the current practices in the medical field and the willingness to consider using the help of a technology tool while diagnosing.

Opinion on the Case

This case illustrates a problem that is all too familiar in the medical profession: there are cases where some patients’ complaints are ignored and not followed up on as they should be. It insists on the need for a change of direction in the healthcare system, implying that the examining finger should be placed on the patient’s plight and the right methodology should be used to evaluate the patient. This case may occur if a mistake has been made; therefore, one should always be attentive and continue to advocate for education in health care.

Thus, considering this case of negligence in malpractice allows us to get acquainted with threats of diagnosis procedures in neurological practices and the steps that can be taken to prevent such occurrences. Reflections to Practice: it will also place me in a position to avoid such malpractice suits by noting the lessons from the case to my Practice, hence improving patient outcomes.

References

Dave, N., Bui, S., Morgan, C., Hickey, S., & Paul, C. L. (2022). Interventions targeted at reducing diagnostic error: systematic review. 
BMJ Quality & Safety
, 
31
(4), 297-307.
https://qualitysafety.bmj.com/content/31/4/297.abstract

Hongjie, M. (2022). Research on the compensation for loss of chance in medical malpractice. In 
Renmin Chinese Law Review
 (pp. 233-262). Edward Elgar Publishing.
https://www.elgaronline.com/edcollchap/book/9781802209587/book-part-9781802209587-14.xml

Pichon, A., Schiffer, K., Horan, E., Massey, B., Bakken, S., Mamykina, L., & Elhadad, N. (2021). Divided we stand: the collaborative work of patients and providers in an enigmatic chronic disease. 
Proceedings of the ACM on human-computer interaction
, 
4
(CSCW3), 1-24.
https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/3434170

Richards, D., Morren, J. A., & Pioro, E. P. (2020). Time to diagnosis and factors affecting diagnostic delay in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. 
Journal of the Neurological Sciences
, 
417
, 117054.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022510X20303919