Review Questions 1. What is "standard of care"? Standard of care refers to the degree of care that a similar healthcare professional would apply under the same circumstances while taking into account any unexpected complications or conditions. To put it simply, if another healthcare professional with the same or similar training takes the same course of action as the healthcare professional at issue given the information known and the exact situation, the professional is seen as meeting the standard of care. 2. What is informed consent? Informed consent is the agreement of a patient to undergo specific tests, procedures, treatments, and so forth; the disclosure of any risks and/or benefits of the treatment/procedure as well as any possible alternatives and the risks and/or benefits of such alternatives must be discussed by the healthcare professional to …show more content…
Some have argued that it is too easy for people to file malpractice suits against healthcare professionals in the United States. What are the advantages and disadvantages of malpractice suits? There a quite a few possible advantages and disadvantages to filing a medical malpractice suit. One such advantage is that most healthcare professional involved in the direct care of patients carry liability insurance, meaning that in the case of a malpractice suit, the healthcare professional at fault can use their insurance to continue to practice medicine and cover the legal fees and settlements of the victim, which also means that the victim of malpractice can receive compensation relatively quickly and easily. However, in the case that a malpractice suit goes to court, victims can only receive compensation from the healthcare professional’s liability insurance if and only if some form of actual medical error was made and if said error has been documented or is physically provable in some way, which can be extremely difficult and perhaps even impossible under certain