<p>Hello everyone, I'm currently a college freshman thinking of becoming a doctor. I like to help people, and that's probably the main reason that I wanted to be a doctor. But I've been curious for a long time, what happens if the patient dies despite the best effort? I've been told by a lot of people doctors are very likely to be sued for malpractice. I just want to know if this is true? What usually happens if that does happen? And how do you really define malpractice, like say during a surgery? Thanks a lot for your help!</p>
<p>In Pakistan, if you're a doctor and you do that...you're going to be killed. I don't know about USA. But thats what happens in Middle East.</p>
<p>People are going to die despite your best efforts and the law protects the physician from harm based solely on the family's grief. In fact, it is extraordinarily rare to ever be sued; about once per 8 practice years I think is the avg. </p>
<p>However, if you do actually cause the death (or any damage) due to negligence, you are liable and may be sued. In that case your malpractice insurance company pays for and organizes your defense. Even with all their hand-holding and assuming you are falsely charged, it is an emotional and time consuming process for the physician.</p>
<p>In the end, if you are found to have been negligent, the insurance company will pay the judgment. If you have too many such findings, your premiums will rise very high and ultimately no one will opt to insure you. The state medical boards may also restrict your right to practice or revoke your license if there's evidence of gross incompetence. Hospitals may also refuse to grant you privileges in their institution. These sorts of things though are extremely rare. Malpractice is an issue but not really a major reason to avoid becoming a doctor.</p>
<p>PSedrishMD,
Thanks for your reply. But is there a considerable amount of surgeries that have to be done manually by doctors nowadays? Or do most of them depend on machinery operation? I mean if there are surgeries that are done manually everyday, the results/procedures would very likely vary from person to person. And I just don't see it would be easy to set a borderline to define whether he is negligent/malpracticing.</p>