According to the article, prospective doctors going through medical school are trained in every aspect of medicine except the legal ones. The extent of many doctors' knowledge on medical malpractice ends after the advice that they get malpractice insurance, the article claims. Doctors know that malpractice means that they may have committed a medical error that could have been prevented, but nothing concerning malpractice law or how to deal with malpractice claims. In fact, says the article, some doctors are lucky to get even this much during their training.
As the article states, some medical experts believe that this lack of training in malpractice law is responsible for an increase in malpractice events. Only 37 percent of all medical schools require courses in medical malpractice, the article claims, and even then, most of these courses lack any kind of real world knowledge.
Many medical professionals, however, blame the increase in malpractice claims on an overly aggressive legal system. These professionals hold that the lack of malpractice education amongst doctors is not so much to blame as medical insurance companies imposing restrictions on the type of treatments that doctors are allowed to administer to patients. This, they say, can turn a doctor into an amateur mini-lawyer by necessity, making them more concerned with not being sued than with doing what is best for the patient. As a result, the patient turns around and tries to sue the doctor over a lack of satisfaction with their insurance-approved treatment.
"The unfortunate implication of all of this," says personal injury attorney Michael J. Gopin, "is that doctors and lawyers, who are both supposed to be helping the same individual, end up fighting with one another over said individual. Both want to do what is right by their patient or client, but both feel hampered by the other in their duties."
To help alleviate this, the article recommends that medical schools beef up their malpractice courses with real working knowledge on state policies and issues as taught by real medical professionals with actual experience on the subject. The article also recommends that practicing doctors take regular refresher courses to keep updated on the issue.
Attorney Michael J. Gopin hopes that, if these strategies are implemented, doctors and lawyers can refrain from battling as much and instead focus on what is most important - the wellbeing of patients.
ABOUT:
Michael J. Gopin is a personal injury attorney and a Texas native. He graduated from the University of Texas in Austin with his Bachelor's of Business Administration in Accounting, then attended St. Mary's School of Law in San Antonio. Here he received his Juris Doctorate degree and was shortly after joined the State Bar of Texas as a licensed attorney in 1987. He now runs the Law Offices of Michael J. Gopin, PC, where, along with his dedicated associates provide the highest quality of legal representation to victims of personal injury all throughout the states of Texas and New Mexico. Their major areas of practice include products liability, personal injury, nursing home negligence, and medical malpractice.
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