20 Medico-legal questions Test your knowledge

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20 Medico-legal questions

Question 1: Allegations of negligence

A 50-year-old woman had an elective cholecystectomy. She experienced complications and was frustrated by the lack of information given to her by the surgeon after the surgery. She launched a legal action. What principle of law was the claim likely based on? Choose the best answer: > I N D E X > A) B) C) D) E) Breach of fiduciary duty in the doctor-patient relationship Failure to provide value for the taxes she paid into the health care system Negligence or civil liability (fault) related to the performance of the surgery Breach of contract Assault and battery related to the failure to obtain informed consent

Answer:
The answer to this question is: C

Discussion:
Allegations of negligence The majority of legal actions brought against physicians are based on a claim of negligence. Four elements must be established or proven for any legal action based upon a claim of negligence to be successful: 1. 2. 3. 4. There must be a duty of care owed toward the patient. There must be a breach of the duty of care. The patient must have suffered harm or injury. The harm or injury must be directly related or caused by the breach of the duty of care.

Allegations of negligence extend not only to acts the physician is said to have commited in error, but also to steps it is suggested the physician should have taken but failed to take. A duty of care may exist when an individual can reasonably be expected to rely on the advice or actions of a physician. In Qubec, although the concept of duty of care is not an element of civil liability, it does find its equivalent in the civil law analysis. As in other provinces, certain duties arise out of the doctorpatient relationship. A physician thus has a duty to abide by the rules of conduct or standards appropriate to the circumstances.

https://education.cmpa-acpm.ca/20questions/questions/question01-e.html

18/02/2012

20 Medico-legal questions Test your knowledge

Page 2 of 2

In determining whether a physician has breached a duty of care toward a patient, the courts consider the standard of care and skill that might reasonably have been applied by a colleague in similar circumstances. The appropriate measure is therefore the level of reasonableness and not a standard of perfection. The courts have also recognized that it is easy to be wise in hindsight, therefore they must guard against judging a physician in retrospect. It is important that the appropriate standard be determined with reference both to the circumstances and what a reasonable standard of care would have been at the time of the alleged negligent care. The court ascertains this reasonable standard by means of evidence given by experts at trial.

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https://education.cmpa-acpm.ca/20questions/questions/question01-e.html

18/02/2012