Professional Regulation and Criminal Liability

Professional Regulation and Criminal Liability

Introduction

Healthcare professionals, including physicians, surgeons, nurses, and other health care provides, are under constant pressure to navigate their way through a complex labyrinth of ethical and legal laws and regulations, governing this esteemed profession. Healthcare profession is the leading runner for legal scrutiny and strict ethical guidelines. This type of oversight is an essential part of this profession because the lives of all people are at stake, as well as, exposure of many people under the care within the industry (Fredrick, 2013).

During the last decade, there have been several series of high-profile inquiries leading to a noxious mist over the health care profession. The series of events provoked the demands for implementation of strict regulations, from the both sides. The aim of these laws and regulations is to find a balancing situation where people feel confident of doctors practicing competently, in view of the ethical and technical standards. At the same, these rules and regulations do not become overwhelming to the extent where doctors feel they have sword of Damocles hanging above their heads (Samanta & Samanta, 2004, pp. 211-218).

Discussion

In health care, professional misconduct is a commonly observed issue that may lead to a much serious crime, known as medical malpractice. Any medical practitioner, including doctors and nurses, showing negligent behavior, not pertaining to the standards of health care regulations laid out by the practice laws, may be taken as a culprit of professional misconduct. He and/or she are liable to be prosecuted under the law for security of the patient who seek the help of his proclaimed messiah (Medical License Verification, 2011). In the state of New York alone, there are approximately fifty acts and behaviors which defined professional misconduct for physicians. These definitions can be obtained from the New York Education Law Sections 6530 and 6531 (State of New York Health Department, n.d.).

The Regulatory Framework

The prior belief, which states that doctors have complete professional freedom, is a fantasy nowadays. Nonetheless, the standards of rules and regulations have largely been set by the profession itself. This unique self-regulation allows the freedom to deal with a wide array of problems within the profession; however, the series of tragic events involving a health care professional in a hospital setting (Health Care Professional Responsibility and Reporting Enhancement Act, n.d.).

Legislative regulations relating to health care professionals have been repeatedly endorsed as a conflicting mechanism of regulation since it carries forth the force of law. According to the federal government system of the United States, every state has to regulate the practice of all working health care professionals. Health professional practice acts comprises of statutory laws, which established the licensing or regulatory agencies or boards in order to form rules regulating medical practice. The purpose of state licensing statutes is to establish the requirements of education and experience to practice within the state, define the professional functions, and limit these functions only to licensed personals. The restrictions of state business practice comprise of ...