Patients who are ill or have injuries to heal from won’t give their care a second thought when they return home happy and healthy after visiting a medical institution. On the other hand, when a patient suffers a loss while in the care of doctors or a medical facility, they may have life-long scars.
Although the standard of care at most medical facilities and hospitals seems to be of a very high standard, there may be times when the doctor or hospital slips up in delivering their duties. Whether it was human error or faulty equipment, patients should be aware that they’re entitled to seek compensation under the right circumstances. Keep on reading to learn more.
What’s Considered Medical Negligence
When a patient has an injury due to the negligent behavior of a medical professional or the hospital, they should contact lawyers for doctor negligence immediately to explain further what they can claim after the incident. Not all medical errors will lead to a successful lawsuit, but some of the most likely instances are listed below:
- If the doctor fails to provide the patient with the correct diagnosis;
- Unnecessary procedures, surgeries, or therapies;
- Patients get discharged from the hospital too early before they heal properly;
- When doctors don’t perform the necessary testing or neglect the results;
- Physicians don’t follow up with their patients to see if they need more care;
- Incorrect prescriptions or dosages of medications;
- Forgetting swabs or medical instruments inside patients during surgery; and
- The patient’s condition deteriorates at the hand of the doctor or hospital.
For a lawyer to determine whether the doctor or hospital is at fault for these situations, they need to examine all the available evidence. Doctors would, in most cases, have liability insurance, while hospital staff usually falls under the hospital itself.
Patients and their legal teams will have to find the person responsible for the physical or emotional damage to determine if the doctor or hospital will be the respondent. Lawyers will then try to prove that the doctor or hospital had a specific duty towards the patient that they neglected to fulfill, resulting in damages.
Who’ll Be Responsible For Medical Malpractice
Establishing the liability and responsibility of each party involved may take some time, especially when a whole team of professionals was involved in the incident. It usually comes down to who had a hand in causing the physical and mental anguish for the patient.
The patient will have to show that they were under the doctor’s care at the time of the incident or hospitalized at that specific institution and that there were errors or negligence on their side concerning the patient’s care. When doctors start examining and treating patients, they assume responsibility for their care. They’d thus be held liable for their part in the incident, like drug injuries resulting from them prescribing the incorrect medications.
Hospitals, on the other hand, would have to prove that they provided reasonable care to the patient without any gross negligence on the part of their staff. For this, there are hospital records that the team completed showing who assisted the patient with what. They also have to indicate when they had contact with the patient and which procedures they followed.
How Does Patients Get Compensation
If patients feel they’re victims of medical malpractice, they should contact a reputable and knowledgeable lawyer to help them through the process. Not all law firms will specialize in these cases, so it may be best to find one with a reputation for winning such cases.
These legal representatives can distinguish between doctor and hospital negligence and will undoubtedly give their clients the best advice for their specific situation. Because no two cases are alike, the lawyer must consider all the evidence and carefully determine who would be at fault before starting any legal proceedings.
Unfortunately, some cases may be complicated to prove, especially when patients were terminally ill or had extensive injuries that led them to be under the doctor or hospital’s care. Patients should listen to the advice of their lawyer and cooperate in any way they can if they want to institute a claim against either the doctor or hospital successfully.
In Conclusion
Medical malpractice lawsuits are never clear-cut cases, and many factors will contribute. Whether the physicians are responsible for the injuries or the hospital, patients would have to prove their case by submitting their evidence to a reputable lawyer who’ll have to investigate every aspect of the claim.
Ultimately either the doctor or the hospital could remain liable for all of the damage the patient suffered; it all depends on which way the evidence points.
Leave a Reply