Cautious Charting Skews Medical Error Statistics

Ben Glass

Attorney
(866) 735-1102 Ext 320

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Medical error statistics are skewed because of underreporting and cautious charting by medical personnel who have been taught to chart “defensively,” meaning that they chart with litigation in mind. Countless medication and other errors are made, and some have been charted as if they were administered or performed correctly. Many serious errors have been minimized in the charted account, or written in a manner that shamelessly places the blame on the patient or others.

A common example of making the patient a scapegoat is to label him/her as having “anxiety,” which effectively discredits both his/her judgment and recount of what was said or done while he/she was receiving medical care. This “diagnosis” will typically be added to a patient’s file if he/she displays annoyance or anger while dealing with a physician.

There are laws in place that protect “Incident Reports,” which document every detail of errors and accidents, from discovery. The intent of such laws was to encourage the person that made the error to give a complete and truthful account of what took place in order to learn how the incident came about.

This knowledge is intended to aid in decisions regarding how to make improvements or other changes to the appropriate systems or behaviors and reduce the chances of the error taking place again.

Incident reports have been barred from discovery in Virginia due to their potential value in elimination of errors if protected, and the potential for falsification of facts if they were available for use in litigation.

Identifying knowledgeable parties who are able to reveal this protected information through deposition could indicate which people, equipment, or supplies could have played a part in the victim’s injury.

Your right to receive compensation for medical malpractice, as well as the amount, is determined by a number of laws and factors, including:

• Statutes of limitations. You are required to file your claim within a specific time limit. The statute of limitations depends upon the type of claim and the claimant’s age, among other factors. An attorney can inform you of which factors apply in your particular claim.

• Plaintiff’s degree of fault. Did the injured party share any of the responsibility for his/her injury (for example, giving an inaccurate medical history)? Your contribution to the injury must be 50 percent or less to be eligible to file a claim for medical malpractice.

• Joint and several liability. These liabilities are taken into consideration when multiple defendants are involved and make all parties responsible for the full amount in the event of any or all of the others being unable to satisfy the judgment. Identifying any possible contributors to the malpractice event is critical to increasing your chances of being compensated.

• Limits on claim. There is no cap on the amount of a malpractice claim. However, some states may have factors that carry an additional impact.

• Other legal considerations. These can include periodic payments from other sources (such as insurance), immunity, and other laws and contributing factors.

With so many variables determining whether or not you are qualified to file a claim, you should consult an attorney early for evaluation.