Everyone is bound to make a mistake at one point or another in their career. Such a mistake may be easily rectified and forgotten about, allowing you to move on with a constructive lesson learned. However, the same cannot be said if your career is in the medical field; specifically, if your job is as a practicing physician who interacts with patients daily. This is because such a mistake may cause a patient to incur serious injuries and illnesses, some of which cannot be undone. Read on to discover what job performance errors constitute medical misconduct and how one of the seasoned New York physician defense lawyers at Walker Medical Law can work to reduce the repercussions you face for this.
What job performance errors may be considered medical misconduct?
As a practicing physician, you cannot have an “off day” at work. This is because, with every interaction you have with a patient, you owe them a duty of care. That is, your responsibility is to provide them with the utmost healthcare possible, all to help them fully recover. So when you make a job performance error, you may breach your duty of care. This is regardless of whether it was done accidentally. Without further ado, such errors that may be considered medical misconduct are as follows:
- You may have failed to order the proper medical tests to diagnose your patient’s injury or illness.
- You may have failed to monitor your patient’s condition after they underwent a serious medical procedure.
- You may have failed to warn your patient about the potential risks before performing a serious medical procedure.
- You may have failed to review your patient’s medical history before prescribing a certain medication or treatment plan.
What happens if I make errors as a practicing physician?
To reiterate, as a practicing physician, any moment of negligence may cause your patient to incur serious injuries or illnesses. Such injuries or illnesses may, by far, be more severe than what they initially sought treatment for. What’s worse, these injuries or illnesses may be irreversible, untreatable, and sadly result in death.
Unfortunately, a simple apology cannot undo the damage you have caused. With this, your patient may have every right to file a formal complaint of medical misconduct with the New York State Department of Health’s Office of Professional Medical Conduct (OPMC).
Of note, the OPMC is required to respond to this complaint by conducting a formal investigation against you. After interviews with relevant parties, scheduled hearings, etc., the OPMC may find your moment of negligence as an incident of medical misconduct. With a guilty verdict, you may be expected to pay hefty fines, surrender your medical license, etc.
If you have any further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact one of the competent New York physician defense lawyers. Schedule your initial consultation with Walker Medical Law today.