What is a Duty of Care?
Different professions have different standards for basic behavior and job performance by their members. These are called duties. In medicine, there are a few Duties of Care. The motto "First, do no harm" is a big part of the medical field's Duties of Care to patients.

The first is a basic Duty of Care, or an obligation to tend patients properly and completely, using correct treatments and procedures to heal. Doctors, nurses, hospitals and nursing homes are responsible for the thorough medical treatment of their patients; if these professionals "slack off" and harm results, they have not lived up to their Duty of Care. An injured person, or the family of one who dies wrongfully, can sue.

The second is a Duty to Act, also known as the Emergency or Humanitarian Doctrine in Indiana. A healthcare professional is obliged to take action to prevent harm. For instance, if a doctor is driving along a street and sees a wreck, the doctor must stop and offer help. He cannot drive past without assisting; he might as well deliberately cause damage to a person in danger or at risk. To drive on is to be negligent.

What is Negligence?
In Tort Law (the body of non-criminal law where paying the plaintiff, rather than serving prison time, is the defendant's punishment), negligence is frequently an omission, or a medical professional's failure to do something necessary for a patient. Negligence also can be an act of commission, like giving penicillin to a woman whose chart says that she is allergic to it. Ultimately, it's carelessness, whether an action is taken or omitted. And carelessness that results in injury or death is medical malpractice.

Why Does It Happen?
If your family member or you have been injured by a doctor's negligence, an inattentive nurse, or a hospital or nursing home that does a poor job of listening to its patients, then this is your question.

Sadly, there are no easy answers. Often, it's a combination of bad luck and bad timing that put you in a situation where you could suffer injury at the hands of a medical professional. One question that can be answered partially is "Why?"

One-time errors, as opposed to a pattern of negligent behavior by a healthcare professional, frequently happen because a lot of independent factors come together to cause injury or death. If this happens, addressing the true cause or causes of a medical mistake that causes you injury or another to die may mean addressing the work of an entire practice or hospital. Your attorney knows: things aren't always what they seem.

Another reason, more difficult to accept and understand, is that some medical professionals or facilities chronically don't live up to their oaths, duties or responsibilities. Possession of a medical or nursing degree, or a license to run a nursing home or hospital, does not guarantee fitness for the medical profession. Some doctors and nurses are unfit to practice medicine. For the unfit, committing medical malpractice could be a habit, and is a matter time.

Solutions: How Do You Avoid Injury?
There are no guarantees, but researching a doctor or facility before you become a patient is extremely wise. Websites provide information about medical professionals, and you can ask trusted friends about their doctors and medical experiences. You can interview potential treatment facilities and doctors, take notes, and form your own opinion. And if you have a bad feeling about a current doctor (he doesn't listen, she forgets to write things in the chart), leave the practice and find another.

Ultimately, medicine is a service like any other, and we are consumers. Be a proactive consumer in medical situations and you can help yourself to avoid disaster.

For more information on the legalities of medical malpractice visit http://www.cfclc-law.com