Reference no: EM133682359

Facts: A 23-year-old man employed by the postal agency was working out at the gym on a treadmill. After the workout, his left calf hurt. The pain increased over the next few hours. Around midnight, the pain was unbearable, and he went to the emergency room. The doctor heard his complaints and thought he was seeking drugs. He never touched the man's left calf, which was tight and rigid by then. He wrote in the chart that the man may be drug-seeking or have compartment syndrome, a medical emergency needing immediate surgery. The doctor called the orthopedic surgeon and asked the surgeon to examine the patient but did not say it could be urgent. When the orthopedic surgeon arrived the following day, he saw this young man's leg was in crisis. He rushed the patient to surgery to relieve the compartment syndrome. Despite the surgery, the man has life-long limitations in walking. The young man argued that the emergency room doctor should have recognized that he was in a medical crisis and told the surgeon to arrive immediately. Had the surgeon arrived earlier, the surgery would have been more straightforward, and he would have had no life-long injuries.

Questions

1. You're the lawyer, and the young man comes to your office with his story. Your job is to advise him about what to expect in a medical negligence case. As such, please explain to him each element of a medical malpractice case and how the facts above apply to the elements of the case.

2. Then, using the material covered in this Module and your imagination, describe one realistic scenario to resolve this dispute. Litigation? Arbitration? Mediation?