Criminal Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Criminal Law - Essay Example A mere revocation of license is not enough to compensate for the preventable death of a person caused by professional negligence resulting from a failure to extend the standard of care and treatment expected from established benchmarks of adequate medical practice (McClellan, 1994) and Kirk Johnsons position is quite understandable as he is lawyering for the AMA. (170) 2. I think that a doctor who caused serious harm due to fatigue, overwork, lack of sleep, inattention, or for any reason should still be held criminally liable because the patient relies on him completely. Although a physician is expected to heal and not to cause harm per their oath, again it is the standard of care that sets the benchmark of what is considered as adequate medical care, including being physically and mentally fit to give or render the expected care that patients want from health care providers. If a doctor is to be allowed the various defenses enumerated earlier, then there is no assurance anymore that patients get the standard of care they deserve. If a doctor feels tired and thinks he cannot perform in any safe manner, then he or she should refrain from practice to avoid a case similar to anesthesiologist Dr. Verbrugge, Sr. (Carlson, 1995).(151) 3. Some of the professions whose members can be held liable for negligence include the police such as not taking good care of suspects while in their custody, lawyers who are ignorant of the law and therefore also considered to fall under the definition of being negligent in their legal practice, teachers who failed to safeguard the students while they were in school, and firefighters who may have failed to save a potential fire victim due to some inadequacies or plain incompetence when they could have saved that person if they were not remiss in their duties. A school teacher is considered as a second or foster parent