Medical Errors Leading to Patients' Death

[new_atheist]

I just wanted to ask a slightly difficult question. What happens if, while working as a health professional (doctor, nurse, dentist etc) in the hospital or clinic, a patient dies or is left disabled or disfigured because of medical errors? Apart from being accountable to the law (Medical Malpractice Law), is there any religious implications? What If that error was not deliberate and no harm was really intended but bad effects still happened?

 

[Jared2914]

I just wanted to ask a slightly difficult question. What happens if, while working as a health professional (doctor, nurse, dentist etc) in the hospital or clinic, a patient dies or is left disabled or disfigured because of medical errors? Apart from being accountable to the law (Medical Malpractice Law), is there any religious implications? What If that error was not deliberate and no harm was really intended but bad effects still happened?

It would be a grave sin regardless of the circumstances. Whether it was mortal or venial would depend on what you asked (deliberate vs. not deliberate). If not deliberate, it could be no more than venial sin. This is because to commit a mortal sin requires a grave sin committed with full knowledge and consent. If not deliberate, the medical professional may have known there was a chance for complications, but he or she certainly did not consent to the complications.

 

[Petaro]

I do not believe an unforeseen complication is a sin at all as there was no intention to do wrong. This is the same even for a mistake, again no intention to do wrong. Negligence by itself is an ethical failure and may be sinful depending on the culpability.
If doctor or nurse attempts to do their best work in every situation then there is no fault or sin.

 

[Timothysis]

I do not believe an unforeseen complication is a sin at all as there was no intention to do wrong. This is the same even for a mistake, again no intention to do wrong. Negligence by itself is an ethical failure and may be sinful depending on the culpability.
If doctor or nurse attempts to do their best work in every situation then there is no fault or sin.

 

[Timothysis]

It would be a grave sin regardless of the circumstances.

Nonsense.

 

[Gorgias]

Jared2914:

It would be a grave sin regardless of the circumstances.

Nonsense.

Petaro:

I do not believe an unforeseen complication is a sin at all as there was no intention to do wrong.

When considering the notion of ‘sin’, there are two aspects that come into play: the objective nature of the act, and any subjective imputation of guilt.

In saying that this situation is gravely sinful, Jared was speaking of the objective aspect of the question.

When we start talking about ‘intention’, though, we’re talking about the subjective aspect of the equation. Does the medical professional intend the complication, or should he be expected to have been able to avoid it? Aah… that’s a question of the level of guilt that he bears…

 

[oldcelt]

Nonsense.

Agreed. I would like to know how Jared arrived at his conclusion. The human body is very tricky and a doctor will occasionally make mistakes. While he may be civilly liable, I can’t envision any way that it is sinful unless he took on a case that was over his head purely for the money.

 

[Gorgias]

a doctor will occasionally make mistakes. While he may be civilly liable, I can’t envision any way that it is sinful

How intriguing! While you perceive the distinction between ‘mistake’ and ‘liability’, you seem not to be perceiving the distinction between (objective) sinfulness and (subjective) imputable guilt…

 

[JimG]

Everybody makes mistakes. Some mistakes can cause death. The same applies to pilot errors, which may be minor or major, or correctible, or may be catastrophic. But nobody goes through life without making mistakes, not even physicians, nurses, or pilots.

 

[1ke]

I just wanted to ask a slightly difficult question. What happens if, while working as a health professional (doctor, nurse, dentist etc) in the hospital or clinic, a patient dies or is left disabled or disfigured because of medical errors? Apart from being accountable to the law (Medical Malpractice Law), is there any religious implications? What If that error was not deliberate and no harm was really intended but bad effects still happened?

I don’t understand what you mean by “religious implications”. Why would there be any religious implications for making a mistake? I don’t see why you would consider this a “difficult question”.

 

[Sunbreak]

I think it would depend on the circumstances. There are preventable errors but also situations where things just go wrong unexpectedly. If someone deliberately skips an important step in the patient’s prep or care, I would think there could possibly be sin involved. If someone makes a mistake because he/she is interrupted with some other important issue and forgets to do something important because of the interruption, then I would think there isn’t sin in that circumstance. Anyway, I think it would be best to ask a priest about it.

 

[Gorgias]

Why would there be any religious implications for making a mistake?

Depends on the nature of the ‘mistake’. The OP seems to cast a wide net with his use of that word; by including the notion of malpractice in the context of the question (but excluding the legal implications), it would seem that anything covered by malpractice is within the scope of the question, from a moral perspective.