wk2assgnmnt.docx - 1 Running head RESPONDEAT SUPERIOR...

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Running head: RESPONDEAT SUPERIOR
Respondeat Superior and Cases
Brittany L. McBee
MHA 622- Health Care Ethics and Law
Dr. Tanya Scherr
October 28, 2018

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RESPONDEAT SUPERIOR
Respondeat Superior and Cases
Running a medical facility, whether it be large or small, will always have an unfortunate
run in with ethics and the law. There is no such thing as a perfect health care facility. You have
great ones that are leading the way in various services. However, all health care facilities will
meet this unpleasant monster head on at one point or another. There are many forms of legal
issues health care facilities could face. Within this paper, we are going to focus on Respondeat
Superior and two cases where the doctrine was applied while deciding whether or not it was done
fairly.
The basis of this paper is to identify and discuss what Respondeat Superior is. In our
reading, Pozgar (2012) states it as, “Respondeat superior (“let the master respond”) is a legal
doctrine holding employers liable, in certain cases, for the wrongful acts of their agents
(employees). This doctrine has also been referred to as vicarious liability, whereby an employer
is answerable for the torts committed by employees.” Hospitals, or any form of health care
organization, are particularly vulnerable to such allegations. According to John West (2016),
Since an entity works through its employees, there is little that can be done, in most cases, to
avoid respondeat superior liability.” Being in the position that they are in and having to employee
as many individuals as it does to properly run a health care facility, there are bound to be
instances where malpractice comes into play between employees and hospitals when there is
negligence within said organization. An example of the hospital itself being held directly
responsible is, according to Meera, T., Phanjoubam, M., & Nabachandra, H. (2016), “ Improper
maintenance of the hospital leading to injuries or death to the patient.” Or even failure in