Malpractice/Negligence and Liability - Assignment Example

Negligence ahs been defined as failure to use such care as a careful person would use under the same circumstances. When a professional commits negligence, this is malpractice, but not all malpractice amounts to negligence. In the United States of America, the reported cases of malpractice are mainly held with the medical sector and in the health care departments. This can be attributed to lack of enough care providers, lack of expertise, poor working situation, poor staffing and inadequate qualified health care professionals, pressure at work among others.

However, this should not be used as an excuse for negligence and malpractice in the sector (Brenner, 2010). A person who sustains legal harm following a suit on negligence can sue in a court of law and is liable to be compensated. The advances in the innovation sector such as the use of internet has produced knowledgeable patients on the issue of healt care who are much aware of the risks of treatment. In this case, patients can be able to assess for themselves information and analyse of the reasonableness of the care they are receiving.

In the US, malpractice is legally classified as a tort and can be either intentional or unintentional where a person is entitled to compensation In the courts of law, the plaintiff needs to proof acts of neglince or malpractice by the defendant. A plaintiff must show that the defendant owed the plaintif a specific duty, the defendant breached the duty, the plaintiff was harmed and that the breach of this duty caused the harm (Brenner, 2010). The defendants in this case are the facility and the staff members in which Antonio Garcia was admitted to.

The wife to Antonio is the plaintiff who has filed a case of malpractice and negligence against the hospital for the death of her husband. The hospital facility is liable for putting Antonio Garcia on soft restraints and failing to provide a direct one on one patient observation. This can be viewed in terms of negligence in which the staff failed to allocate necessary security to oberve the patient on a direct basis. Secondly, the patient was on soft restraint which might not have been the best way to handle him and he was not given full care based on professionl guidance and counseling.

The staff in the hospital should be held liable for professional malpractice. On the other hand, the wife can also be held responsible for failing to report the matter earlier to the police on the fact that her husband needed to commit suiside after which proper action would have been taken. This is contributory negligence on her part punishable by law. The court is likely to rule that the hospital compensate in form of damages to the wife with a lesser amount equal to the part of her contributory negligence in the case.

In this case, both will have been liable based on the propotion of their contribution. It can also rule that Antonio was not a voluntary patient and therefore the wife is not to be compensated. Examples of court decisions that support my opinion relate to Estate of WilliamsVMarworth. In this case, the plaintif had claims that the rehab facility had a patient who had wondared out of the grounds and died. They alleged that the nurses had not not watched him closely and had allowed him to leave three more time.

The defense noted that the patient had been a voluntary patient. another example is Estate of Woodworth V Brown where the plaintiff claims warning signs went unnoticed because the nurse was not