Medical Misdiagnosis

Should medical misdiagnosis be a crime? In my opinion, it depends on the circumstances involved. There are several factors that we should keep in mind when we are talking about medical misdiagnosis. Some wrong medical diagnosis is caused simply by human error. This inadvertently means doing other than what should have been done. Basically what human error means is it is a mistake. So are doctors perfect? No because they are human just like me and you. Granted they go to intensive schooling and they are required to know certain things, but unfortunately no human being is perfect. So do we punish doctors because of a mistake? Certainly we could reprimand them, but charging them with a crime for a mistake is a little harsh in my opinion.

Now when do I consider medical misdiagnosis a crime? There are two reasons when I believe that medical misdiagnosis should be a crime. One of my reasons is when a doctor is using what I call at-risk behavior. At-risk behavior is when someone tries to cut corners or make their job easier by doing the least amount of work that might be necessary. Although I feel that this is very wrong especially in the medical field, sometimes I feel society has a lot to blame on this type of behavior. Is it fair for a doctor to treat someone whom they know has good insurance any different then someone that has little insurance or none? No, it is definitely not fair, but this is a very litigating factor when it comes to the type of treatment a person gets. I know this first hand because I work in the dental field. I see this happen a lot more than it should.

Another reason I consider medical misdiagnosis to definitely be a crime is when it is due to reckless behavior. A perfect example would be Dr. Joseph J. Verbrugge, Sr, the doctor who was charged for reckless manslaughter after he fell asleep during ear surgery on a little boy. (textbook pg. 61) This should without doubt be treated as a crime in the medical field. That was