Legal and Ethical Issues: Medical Staff
Wisdom Kumah
School of Business, Liberty University
Legal and Ethical Issues: Medical Staff
The medical staff organization is usually made up of officers, committees, and bylaws (Pozgar,
2019). The medical staff is the people that work together to ensure the smooth running of the
organization. Each member of the medical staff may be responsible for one or more departments
or committees. Pozgar (2019) posits that medical organizations may consist of medical staff
committees such as the executive committee, bylaws committee, credentials committee, infection
control committee, and medical records committee among others. Each medical staff committee
plays a vital role in organizational success. For example, the executive committee is in charge of
all the medical staff and is responsible for making key leadership decisions related to medical
staff policies, procedures, and rules. Nevertheless, the medical staff may encounter certain legal
and ethical issues in the course of discharging their duties. This paper is focused on the legal and
ethical issues faced by the medical staff, a biblical world view and personal experiences.
Legal Issues
The medical staff organizations have frequently been challenged with legal issues in the course
of discharging their duties. Each member of the medical team may be held accountable or liable
for their actions in the law court. For example, when a nursing home in Texas was indicted by a
grand jury in 1981 for the death of several residents, the medical director was also indicted”
(Pozgar, 2019, p. 221). The medical director of every healthcare organization is responsible for
the smooth running of the overall facility and systems and ensuring that rules, policies, and
procedures of the organization are enforced. The medical director is therefore accountable for
any failures that may arise in the course of duty.
Healthcare organizations have seen a rise in medical malpractices not only medical directors but
among other staff members involved in the healthcare delivery process. Paterick et al. (2020)
argued that "hospital bylaws and regulations are complex, and it requires time and energy to
become knowledgeable regarding their intent and application in the hospital setting" (para. 2).
Due to the complex nature of hospital bylaws and regulations, it is easy for the medical staff to
get caught in medical malpractice and litigation. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic,
physicians, hospitals, and nursing homes, along with manufacturers of vaccines and therapeutics,
were apprehensive about potential liability. Medical malpractices may take the form of
medication errors, anesthesia injuries, surgical injuries, and failure to diagnose and treat in a
timely manner. Healthcare organizations may incur huge financial liabilities from medical
malpractices. "Medical malpractice is a long-tail line of property and casualty insurance,
meaning that it can take many years to identify and resolve a claim involving serious injury"
(Sage et al., 2020, para. 4).
Ethical Issues
Ethical principles in health care are those principles that guide the conduct of the medical staff in
delivering quality health care. More often than not, the hospital staff is faced with ethical issues
requiring ethical decisions. The medical staff may sometimes engage in acts that may lead to
serious ethical violations. Issues of ethical concern within the medical staff organization include
patient privacy and confidentiality, malpractice and negligence, and end-of-life care among
others.
"Serious ethical violations are acts that not only disregard codes of medical ethics, but also risk
directly harming patients and subjecting the wrongdoer to criminal, tort, or medical board
actions" (DuBois et al., 2019, para. 1). Serious ethical violations are the most common causes of
major disciplinary actions by medical boards such as revoking licenses. The medical staff may
be caught in serious ethical violations such as improper prescription of controlled substances,
sexual abuse of patients, and unnecessary invasive procedures (DuBois et al., 2019).
When such events attract media attention, they also harm the reputation of the organization.
The medical staff is expected to provide patient care that is compassionate, appropriate, and
effective for the promotion of health, prevention of illness, and treatment of disease (Paterick et
al., 2020). The ultimate goal of any medical staff is to provide effective medical care that meets
or exceeds the organization's standard of care. The medical staff should exhibit caring and
respectful behaviors when interacting with patients and their families and counsel and educate
patients and their families. Also, the medical staff is expected to use evidence-based guidelines
when available, as recommended by the appropriate specialty, in selecting the most effective
approach to diagnosis and treatment (Paterick et al., 2020).
Personal Experience
In my personal experience as an aerospace medical technician for the past four years, it is easy to
identify an area with problems at my place of work. I work in a clinic established to operate as a
medical home port for both sailors and marines. This means that the medical staff is responsible
for providing medical care for active-duty military members in garrison. The clinic has
established policies and standards known as standard operating procedures (SOP) which regulate
the day-to-day operations of all members of the medical team. We strive to provide quality
medical care for all sailors and marines. I have personally not been involved in any form of legal
or ethical issues.
Nevertheless, the medical staff in my clinic sometimes runs into issues of legal and ethical
concerns. There are instances where the negligent action of a medical staff resulted in serious
injuries and legal action. For example, the case of a hospital corpsman who gave the wrong
vaccine to a sailor. The sailor suffered an immediate allergic reaction to the vaccine and almost
lost his life due to the negligent action of the hospital corpsman. The hospital corpsman was
found liable for the sailor's injuries and was punished by a reduction in rank and reassigned to a
different department. Another incidence of medical malpractice occurred when a surgeon
operated on the wrong hip of a marine. Service members are now permitted to sue the
government over medical malpractice injuries under an act of congress that loosened the long-
standing Feres doctrine. Veterans injured in a veteran hospital due to medical malpractice by
medical staff may file a lawsuit under the Federal Torts Claims Act (FTCA).
Biblical Worldview
Isaiah 1:17 says that "learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the
fatherless, plead the widow's cause" (English Standard Version). In a biblical worldview, the
ultimate responsibility for providing quality health care rest on the medical staff. Patients entrust
their lives in our care and hence as medical professionals, we must enforce the standard
operating procedures and policies in the healthcare setting. Health care policies and procedures
such as patient rights, patient privacy, proper infection control measures, peer reviews, and
patient confidentiality among others should be enforced by the medical staff. Galatians 6:9 says
that "let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up"
(English Standard Version).
References
DuBois, J. M., Anderson, E. E., Chibnall, J. T., Mozersky, J., & Walsh, H. A. (2019). Serious
ethical violations in medicine: A statistical and ethical analysis of 280 cases in the United
States from 2008-2016. American Journal of Bioethics, 19(1), 16-34.
https://doi.org/10.1080/15265161.2018.1544305
English Standard Version Bible. (2016). Bible gateway. http://www.biblegateway.com/ (Original
work published 2001)
Paterick, Z. R., Patel, N., & Paterick, T. E. (2020). Peer review: Practical aspects and legal/
ethical issues faced by the medical staff. The Journal of Medical Practice Management, 35(5),
243-246.
Pozgar, G. D. (2019). Legal Aspects of Health Care Administration. Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Sage, W. M., Boothman, R. C., & Gallagher, T. H. (2020). Another medical malpractice crisis?
Try something different. JAMA : The Journal of the American Medical Association, 324
(14), 1395-1396. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2020.16557
