CASE 4

Assignment Overview

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University (Makary & Daniel, 2016) found that at the time of their study, medical errors accounted for the third leading cause of death in the United States. Medication errors are included in this. In Module 2 we explored individual liability. Here we will examine organizational liability.

Makary, M. & Daniel, M. (2016) Medical error—the third leading cause of death in the US. BMJ, 353

Case Assignment

Capazzola, D. D. (2016). Medication mix-up leaves 51-year-old patient with permanent brain damage after heart surgery. Healthcare Risk Management, 38(1) Retrieved from Trident Online Library.

Read the article above by Capazzola. After reviewing this, other background readings, and doing independent research, address the following:

1. What are the details of the case described by Capazzola?
2. What was the decision of liability made by the court?
3. While the article does not state the specific legal grounds for decision, why do you think that the hospital was found partially liable? Be sure to specifically discuss forms of organizational liability reviewed in the textbook.
4. What safeguards could be put in place to reduce the risk of future error, and thus hospital liability?

Assignment Expectations

1. Conduct additional research to gather sufficient information to justify/support your analysis.
2. Limit your response to a maximum of 4 pages (title and reference page is not included in page number count).
3. Support your paper with peer-reviewed articles, with at least 3-4 references. Use the following link for additional information on how to recognize peer-reviewed journals:
4. You may use the following source to assist in formatting your assignment:
5. For additional information on reliability of sources, review the following source:
6. This assignment will be graded based on the content in the rubric.