malpractice

malpractice /mal·prac·tice/ (mal-prak´tis) improper or injurious practice; unskillful and faulty medical or surgical treatment.

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mal·prac·tice (ml-prkts)

n.

Improper or negligent treatment of a patient, as by a physician, resulting in injury, damage, or loss.

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malpractice

[malprak′tis]

Etymology: L, malus + Gk, praktikos, practical

(in law) professional negligence that is the proximate cause of injury or harm to a patient, resulting from a lack of professional knowledge, experience, or skill that can reasonably be expected in others in the profession in similar circumstances or from a failure to exercise reasonable care or judgment in the application of professional knowledge, experience, or skill. The four necessary elements of negligence essential to maintain a medical malpractice claim are duty, breach of duty, damages/injury, and causal connection between the breach and the injury.

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malpractice,

n in medicine and dentistry, a professional person's act or failure to act that was the proximate cause of an injury to a patient and that was below the standard of care required.

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malpractice

in human medical practice, malpractice means bad, wrong or injudicious treatment of a patient professionally; it results in injury, unnecessary suffering or death of the patient. The court may hold that malpractice has occurred even though the physician acted in good faith. Also, malpractice may occur through omission to act as well as commission of an unwise or negligent act.

In veterinary practice, a client may proceed against a veterinarian if loss has been incurred and damages are sought. Malpractice suits are much more common in American law than in English law, where negligence suits are more usual. Misconduct charges are usually brought by the professional registering body, whose objective it is to preserve the reputation of the profession against the excesses of nonconformists and incompetents.

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malpractice

Modern medicine Failure to provide professional services with the skill usually exhibited by responsible and careful members of a profession, resulting in injury, loss, or damage to the party contracting those services; misconduct or unreasonable lack of skill in the performance of an act by a professional. See Chiropractic malpractice, Medical malpractice.