It seems like every time you turn on the news nowadays; you hear yet another story about a patient who suffered some type of harm while being treated at the hospital. While many of these instances happen when a patient is on the operating table, that’s not always the case.
There are lots of hands involved in a hospital when it comes to treating patients. There are nurses, doctors, rehabilitation therapists, pharmacists and X-ray techs, all of which are working in shifts. It’s inevitable that errors will occur — but it doesn’t make things right when they do.
Can you hold a hospital liable for a worker’s negligence?
Doctors must acquire malpractice insurance, but many of the other members of your medical team may not have coverage. As for those individuals, the hospital’s insurance policy often covers them.
You might be able to sue a hospital, for example, if a nurse gives you too little or too much medication — or gives you the wrong drug entirel. A similar lawsuit may also be warranted if a nurse doesn’t do what a doctor requests during a surgical procedure, resulting in an adverse outcome.
It’s not unheard of for patients to also sue a medical facility if their failure to adequately vet their workers or a lack of supervision results in a decline in their health.
Key details you should know about medical malpractice claims
Every doctor has a responsibility to exercise a certain standard of care. You may not have a viable malpractice claim so long as your physician upholds that standard. The opposite may be the case if they fail to honor it, though. Determining whether they ignored or upheld that standard isn’t the easiest concept to understand but is key to whether you can file a malpractice case.
