How to find the best personal injury lawyer.

What is Hospital Negligence in a Medical Malpractice Case?

If you or a loved one have been harmed due to a hospital’s negligence, you may have a medical malpractice case. However, understanding these cases can be challenging, especially if this is your first experience with malpractice law. It is natural to have questions or even feel overwhelmed by conflicting information you may find online. Skilled hospital negligence lawyers can help you find answers and support you during your case.

Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice is the term used when a health care provider is negligent in a professional duty that leads to substandard treatment. When this poor treatment leads to a patient suffering an injury, you may be eligible to receive damage rewards for your losses.

Hospital Negligence

Hospital negligence is a type of medical malpractice. It occurs when an employee of the hospital acts negligently, resulting in a patient’s injury. The negligent event could be an act (something the employee did) or an omission (something the employee forgot to do).  Hospitals owe patients a reasonable standard of care; when they fail to uphold this duty, they may be subject to a medical malpractice claim.

What is Hospital Negligence?

If you still ask yourself, “What is considered hospital negligence?” here are examples of hospital negligence that may prove useful:

• Negligent hiring
• Inadequate staffing
• Negligent training
• Negligent supervision
• Negligent policy and procedure implementation

Failure of a Hospital to uphold its duty of care in these areas can lead to employees: 

• Making surgical errors
• Providing improper medication
• Making the incorrect diagnosis
• Misreading laboratory or radiology results

If these actions caused an injury to you or your loved one, you might be entitled to damage awards due to hospital medical malpractice. A skilled hospital negligence lawyer can help answer your questions.

Elements of Your Claim

You must prove certain elements to succeed in your hospital negligence/medical malpractice claim. The precise details can vary somewhat between states, but generally, four legal elements must each be proven to succeed in your claim:

1. The hospital owed a professional duty of care to the patient
2. The hospital breached that duty
3. Harm was caused from that breach of duty
4. You suffered legal damages

You may have an eligible claim if you can prove all the elements. An experienced lawyer for hospital negligence claims can help guide you through the legal process.

1. Duty

The hospital owes a duty of care to its patients. This duty of care is expanded to include all hospital staff, including its non-medical staff. The first step to a successful claim is proving this duty existed.

2. Breach of Duty

As a patient in a hospital, you can expect to receive a certain level of care and respect. When the treatment you receive is below a standard level of care, the duty owed to you by the hospital and its staff is considered breached. 

3. Causation

To prove causation, you must show that your injury was caused by the hospital’s breach of the standard of care.

Tragedies occur in hospitals daily, but not every unfortunate event is due to a breach of duty. Likewise, not every breach of duty results in an injury. No matter the seriousness of the error, a hospital negligence medical malpractice claim will not succeed if you cannot prove breach of duty caused the injury.

For example, a patient who loses a limb after being taken to the hospital from a motor vehicle accident, cannot blame the hospital unless the hospital or its staff made an error that caused the loss of the limb. In other words, if the limb loss was the result of the injuries from the accident, and NOT some other act of negligence by the hospital staff, you will not have a case of hospital negligence.

4. Damages

Finally, in order to succeed in a Hospital Negligence case, you will have to prove that the harm you suffered was not from the illness or condition that brought you  into the hospital in the first place. You have to show that you suffered some additional, avoidable, damages as a result of the negligence of the hospital. 

Example: There are many instances of Hospitals missing an opportunity to diagnose cancer at an earlier stage in a patient. This happens for a number of reasons including misread or lost radiology studies, misread or misinterpreted lad results, or lack of screening and/or follow up procedures.  A patient who has such a claim will also have to prove that he/she suffered more harm than they otherwise would have if the cancer had been detected earlier. This is where an experienced hospital negligence lawyer is priceless to have in your corner.

Other Legal Considerations

Even if you can prove each element of your negligence claim, you may still wonder, “Can I sue a hospital for negligence?” Before pursuing a lawsuit, you should consider a few other issues, like the statute of limitations and possible damages.

Statute of Limitations

The statute of limitations is the deadline you have to file your claim. The statute of limitations for medical malpractice lawsuits is between three and five years in Maryland. In Washington, D.C., the deadline is three years. Claims filed after the statute of limitations has expired are generally dismissed. However, because there are certain exceptions to these deadlines, you should always consult with an experienced hospital negligence lawyer about your specific case.

Possible Damages

Before deciding whether to pursue a legal claim, it is important to understand the potential damages the court may award you after your case. Sometimes, these damages can be substantial and well worth the effort of filing a legal case against the hospital. Other times, the damages may not justify the effort required to make your case. A lawyer experienced in hospital negligence and medical malpractice claims can give you an unbiased assessment of your case.

Proving Hospital Negligence with an Experienced Medical Malpractice Lawyer

Filing and proving a hospital negligence claim can be challenging. This is especially true if you are still suffering from the repercussions of the hospital’s error. An experienced medical malpractice lawyer can help explain the legal process, guide you through it, and simplify the process. If you were hurt by a hospital’s negligent actions or the negligence of their hospital staff, you should reach out to an attorney with a proven track record of  winning hospital negligence medical malpractice claims. 

The hospital negligence lawyers at D’Amore Personal Injury Law are here to help you inside and outside the courtroom. Contact us today to discuss the details of your case and learn more about your rights and legal options.