Original post edited and abridged.



What is medical negligence?

Medical negligence, also known as professional negligence, is an act or omission (failure to act) by a medical professional that deviates from the accepted medical standard of care (Alllaw.com). Just to emphasize this point, allow me quote a section from the Code of Medical Ethics in Nigeria: "A practitioner shall see and attend to all patients under his care, as frequently as their conditions demand, and record in the case notes relevant clinical findings at each visit".

Bearing the above definition in mind, what then constitutes medical negligence and when can one confidently approach the law courts or relevant bodies with disciplinary powers to sanction offending health centers or medical practitioners.

Quite frankly, establishing a strong, tenable case of medical negligence, given the plethora of Nigeria's social problems that prevent medical doctors from effectively discharging their duties to their fullest abilities, is not easily realizable. Notwithstanding, you can make a good case if you can adequately establish the following:

#1. That the medical practitioner failed to PROMPTLY attend to a patient in need of urgent medical care when the practitioner was in a position to do so.

#2. That the medical practitioner demonstrated glaring incompetence and unskillfulness in the assessment of the patient.

#3. That the medical practitioner misdiagnosed the patient even when there were very obvious clinical features for any competent practitioner to have easily made an accurate diagnosis.

#4. That the practitioner failed in his obligation to adequately inform the patient about the severity of his or her condition or failed to advise the patient about the potentially unfavourable outcomes of a particular cause of treatment especially if the patient eventually suffers some serious side effects.

#5. That the practitioner failed in his obligation to get an informed consent signed by the patient or their guardian, before proceeding any high risk medical procedures that require an informed consent.

#6. That the practitioner erred in the managment of the patient's condition by either prescribing the wrong drugs or dosage for an accurately diagnosed medical condition, or by carrying out an unnecessary medical procedure such as amputation of a wrong body part e.g right limb instead of left limb or carelessness in treatment that results in termination of pregnancy or other serious complications that would have been avoided.

#7. That the practitioner failed to refer a patient when it was needed or delayed referral of the patient until it became too late and complications ensued.

#8. That the practitioner failed in his/her obligation to regularly attend to and see a patient as often as the patient's condition warrants or failed to document relevant findings regarding the patient's condition in the case notes.

#9. That the practitioner failed to adequately inform the patient or the patient's guardian/relatives about the severity, progress and chances of survival of the patient.

#10. That the medical practitioner failed to do any reasonable thing, that would have been done by any other medical practitioner, in alleviating the patient's deterioration or in preventing an avoidable death.

Now, you may think these things are easy to prove, but trust me, they are not that easy. A lot of social factors in Nigeria have reduced the efficacy of these laws and the extent to which they can be used. For example, would you describe as medical negligence the death of a patient whose condition required that a brain CT scan be done before proper treatment can is instituted but whose relatives could not afford the high cost of paying for a CT scan? This and a lot more are the reasons why medical law is still not as huge a practice as it is in other climes where things work.

That said, there are cases of outright medical negligence, even when all the Nigerian social factors are considered, that happen daily. These are misnomers and should you find yourself (I pray you don't) in the care of such a negligent doctor or health facility, please don't shy away from using all the necessary apparatus of our law to seek redress and get justice! Actions like this will help sanitize the Nigerian health system off quacks and profit-motivated practitioners.

NB: I feel compelled to state here the majority of Nigerian doctors are very good at what they do. However, we rarely praise their efforts given the impossible condition they work in. Usually, we only share and spread news that undermine the overall image of the Nigerian doctor even when it is not necessarily so. Let us also praise those doctors who have done well even as we vilify the bad eggs in the system.


Culled from DOCTORSHUB NIGERIA

Also read:

INFORMED CONSENT: SHOULD I SIGN IT OR NOT? https://doctorshub.com.ng/2017/07/03/informed-consent-should-i-sign-it-or-not/

5 MEDICAL MISTAKES YOU CAN SUE YOU DOCTOR FOR! https://doctorshub.com.ng/2017/02/22/5-medical-mistakes-you-can-sue-your-doctor-for/








https://doctorshub.com.ng/2017/07/03/medical-negligence-understanding-what-it-is-and-when-to-sue/

Wow!! Thanks Doctorshub Nigeria for this.