Medical Negligence Case Study

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Pages: 4

Overview of Law and Medical Malpractice
When a medical professional has clearly harmed a patient through negligence conduct, there are three legal consequences may follow:
(1) A criminal prosecution; in a event of a doctor who operated on a patient without that patient’s consent could face a charge of battery. In a case of sexual misconduct, an offence under Crimes Ordinance (Cap.200) could be made out. Criminal prosecutions do not require the consent of the victim to be brought. It is of course, very rare for doctors to face criminal prosecutions for actions performed in their professional capacity (Teff, 1998).
(2) A civil action; the claimant could sue for damages relying on the tort of negligence or breach of contract.
(3) Professional
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The boy was severely disabled following complication that had arisen during labour. The disability was caused by shoulder dystocia, an intra-partum emergency that arises resulted the baby was deprived of oxygen when baby’s shoulders are unable to pass through the mother’s pelvis for 12 minutes according to labour record. In consequence, baby suffered cerebral palsy with all four limbs being affected.
The plaintiff was at particular risk of shoulder dystocia for two reasons. The plaintiff was a five feet tall pregnant woman who suffered from diabetes, woman with diabetes tends to have babies that are larger than average, which brings with it an increased risk of approximately 0.2 % of shoulder dystocia during delivery; and plaintiff was also of relatively short stature.
The plaintiff was told she was having a big baby than usual. Although she expressed her concern about her baby’s size the doctor did not warn her of the risk of shoulder dystocia. However, a crucial piece of testimony, one of defender’s employees, a consultant obstetrician did say at trial that she practiced not to inform the risk of shoulder dystocia to most expectant mothers in the situation of Montgomery because she believed they would opt for caesarean section. She believed that caesarean sections were not in the maternal