Legal Aspects of Healthcare Administration - Essay Example

"Legal Aspects of Healthcare Administration" is a brilliant example of a paper on the health system. The field of medicine is one of the most important fields that any society with the aim of developing should have as a priority. This is because, without healthcare, it is impossible for the population to lead a focused life. Over the years, numerous cases have come to light whereby doctors and the entire healthcare system have shown negligence in their work. This is from the manner through which they carry out the practice. It is thus important to go through one of the healthcare cases that have portrayed this and understand the types of liability it presents.

            In the case provided, one of the liabilities witnessed is Absolute Liability. This is the type of liability where the blame falls on the manufacturers of certain products. Jose got permanent disability of the shoulder from the malpractice of the manufacturers of the anesthetic that was supposed to ease his pain (Pozgar, 2011). The liability here lays on the company because if there were the presence of the sedative, Jose would have gone through a successful surgery on the night of admission that could have had a rather great role in preventing the problems that arose from delayed surgery. The company should have produced the anesthetic in large enough amounts to assist in times of emergency such as in Jose’s case.

            Another liability type presented in this case is Vicarious Liability. This is the type of liability where mostly the person who receives the blame for the occurrence of risk is the employee due to negligence and malpractice. In this case, the doctor left the patient after carrying out just an X-Ray and did not tend to the procedures laid down by the health care act of 2011 where the doctor is not supposed to abandon a patient without redirecting him to another healthcare facility with the required resources (Pozgar, 2011). In this case, the doctor should take responsibility for negligence as he did not seek assistance from other medical facilities but rather postponed the surgery putting the patient at risk.

            Contributory negligence or rather joint Liability is another form of malpractice witnessed in the case. This is the type of liability where both the defendant and the plaintiff are guilty of the risk occurrence (Schneier, 2009). As stated before, it was the responsibility of the doctor in charge at the time to redirect the patient to another health facility or rather seek an alternative anesthetic to assist the patient who was in pain and in need of surgery. However, the parents of Jose were also supposed to ask the doctor for assistance in terms of finding another hospital where they could have taken their son and possibly get the surgery done in time to save Jose’s arm. As much as it is not stated, the parents should have also taken the initiative of taking their son to another hospital provided a high level of emergency.

            Negligence cases in the healthcare sector are among the issues that have hit the legal sector in a rather hefty manner. With continued ignorance of certain constitutional and ethical rights, it is rather difficult for a society to develop effectively. Human life should have priority and hence the importance of understanding the certain liabilities and the respective person who should take responsibility in case of negligence.

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