Florida Hospital Medical Malpractice Lawsuits

Florida Hospital Medical Malpractice Lawsuits

Hospital Negligence can Cause Severe Injury

The most serious injuries that people sustained are often treated in an emergency setting at the nearest hospital that they are rushed to. There they will be treated along with many other patients of varying degrees of injury and sickness that require anything from emergency surgery to long term recovery. In any of the services offered by healthcare providers such as doctors, nurses, etc. there is potential for medical malpractice. Hospitals have become one of the most prominent settings for medical malpractice where healthcare provider negligence results in injury or complication for patients seeking treatment that is up to the expected standard of care. This negligence can take many shapes within the walls of a hospital but will often cause great harm to patients.

What is Medical Malpractice?

Medical malpractice is defined as any act or omission by a physician during treatment of a patient that deviates from accepted norms of practice in the medical community and causes an injury to the patient. Medical malpractice is a specific subset of tort law that deals with professional negligence. A doctor or other kind of healthcare provider would have to act in a negligent manner towards their patient and violate the standard of care expected of them as a healthcare professional. The standard of care is the level of expected professional service offered in comparison to other similar professionals that offer the same service.

Types of Hospital Malpractice

When a patient is admitted to a hospital for treatment, they are placing their well being into the hands of the various healthcare professionals whose services they have requested. Good treatment comes from more than just good doctors. It comes from an entire network of care providers working together. This also means that negligence can come from anyone working in this team to treat a patient.

Hospital Surgical Malpractice

There are numerous ways that surgery can go wrong. The entire nature of surgery is one of risk taken with delicate precision to correct conditions that are often life threatening. One of the major inherent risks of surgery is the potential for infection. Every surgery despite the best possible efforts of a hospital, has a chance of resulting in some form of infection. Of course surgeons and attending staff take the utmost precaution to prevent this by maintaining sanitary tools, operating in a clean environment, and wearing protective clothing like gloves, and masks. However, there are still cases that arise where healthcare providers are neglectful and patients suffer an infection because their chance of infection was avoidably increased by something like an unsanitized surgical instrument or improper surgical procedure. There is also the chance for surgical error to occur. Surgeons are human beings that are despite all their excellent training and education, fallible. Surgical errors actually occur on a surprisingly regular basis. More than 4000 avoidable surgical mistakes occur every single year. Some truly disturbing surgical errors can occur in even the most highly rated hospitals. Surgery can be performed on the wrong body part, the wrong surgery can be performed, and surgery can even be performed on the wrong patient. These things do happen but not nearly as much as the top three surgical errors such as leaving foreign objects inside the body, anesthesia errors, punctured organs, and nerve damage.

Hospital Medication Errors

A medication error can turn the tables on someone that may have been making a steady recovery and send them into free fall. Medications are developed to make us recover but only when applied in specific doses of the right kind. Even the wrong dosage of the right medication can have fatal consequences. Hospitals may neglect to check medications and supply the wrong kind to patients or the wrong dosage leading to grievous injury.

Hospital Misdiagnosis or Failure to Diagnose

Doctors at a hospital may make the error of mistaking one disease for another or failing to detect a dangerous health condition altogether. This naturally has serious consequences for a patient's health when the ailment they actually have is not treated or they receive treatment for another ailment that actually makes it worse.

Suing a Hospital for Medical Malpractice

The process of suing a hospital for medical malpractice is not entirely different from taking legal action against some other form of healthcare provider. If any of the staff of a hospital were responsible for your avoidable injury because they were negligent, then legal action against the hospital is fairly straightforward with a malpractice claim to seek compensation for damages. Examples of staff can include pharmacists, nurses, surgical assistants, physical therapists, and doctors of various types. It is important to be sure that the doctor or staff that you are taking legal action against is employed directly by the hospital. In certain situations, a hospital may hire an independent contractor to assist which can make liability a bit more murky. If a doctor was an independent contractor then they will usually be the ones liable instead of the hospital. It is also important to note that a hospital should inform you if a doctor is not part of their staff since if they don't, then they would be liable since you were being treated by an independent contractor against your knowledge. A hospital can also be found liable of medical malpractice in the case of a doctor that is not fit for treating patients is kept on the staff despite displaying incompetency to the hospital's knowledge or to the point that it should have been within their knowledge.

Seek an Experienced Medical Malpractice Attorney

If you or a loved one have been injured because of the neglect of a healthcare provider, then do not hesitate to contact Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA about receiving a free consultation on your claim. Our skilled lawyers have the expertise you will need to secure the settlement that you deserve. Allow Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA to assist you in holding those liable for your injuries responsible while you recuperate. For a free consultation on your claim you can contact us online or call (727) 451-6900 Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA 800 North Belcher Road Clearwater, FL 33765 (727) 451-6900 https://www.dolmanlaw.com/medical-malpractice-lawyer/