Imagine you’re laid up in a hospital bed, suffering from a fatal illness, when you learn that a nurse accidentally used the wrong syringe to give you a shot. You’d sue, right? Well, maybe. New California legislation makes it easier to sue medical facilities for negligence, including hospitals, which in turn can lead to the release of large amounts of sensitive medical information. At this point, the threat of a lawsuit may not be enough to get a hospital to change its operating procedures, but they know that there will be consequences if they do not.
Can I Sue a Hospital for Negligence?
The phrase “when can I sue a hospital for negligence” is what you would expect to hear when you ask a lawyer how long he takes to get back to you when you call to ask about a case. However, it is also what you may hear when you ask an employer or landlord about a potential lawsuit. In each case, the answer is the same: it depends.
If you suffer a significant injury as a result of a hospital’s failure to meet its quality-of-care standards, you can sue for negligence by contacting a medical malpractice attorney Atlanta or elsewhere. You can, however, sue a hospital if the hospital’s actions were actually negligent and not just negligent in a way that was beyond its control. Since, it is uncommon to recover money for a pre-existing condition, hospital negligence can be significant.
Hospitals are held to a higher standard of care than most other industries, which is no accident. The American Hospital Association, the American Medical Association, and the American Nurses Association have all stated that hospitals provide the highest quality care at the most affordable prices. While this is true for many services, a few notable exceptions exist.
All over the country, lawsuits are being filed against hospitals, alleging that they failed to diagnose or treat patients properly.
In the past two years, hundreds of such lawsuits have been filed, claiming that hospitals failed to properly diagnose breast cancer, a heart attack, or another ailment.
Other medical negligence can be related to billing issues. False billing from hospitals can result in further financial loss to the medical practice.
It’s not hard to understand why these lawsuits are being filed. Most people assume that if they were given a diagnosis, they’d know what the problem is, what the proper treatment is, and that they’d know what the outcome would be. But here’s the thing about a diagnosis: it simply doesn’t work that way. Doctors cannot predict the outcome of any illness, and they often get it wrong.
An accident can occur anytime and anywhere. There are times when it’s not your fault, but you are still responsible for the injury. Mediation is a good way to settle a dispute before the court; it can be expensive, however, and there may not be an out-of-court settlement. If you want to file a personal injury claim, whether it’s for medical bills, pain, suffering, or other losses, it’s best to know your rights. You can discuss your case with a solicitor to know if it’s a valid case of medical malpractice. For instance, a patient got an infection after surgery due to the negligence of hospital staff. Then the family can look for No win no fee hospital infection solicitors in their neighborhood to get professional law assistance.
If you’ve recently had any medical treatment, you may be wondering if you have a case. Are you entitled to compensation for the slightest mishap in your hospital stay, or is recovering from surgery or illness the only concern that will ever come your way? A lot of medical patients don’t know the answers to these questions. First, let’s address the issue of negligence. Negligence is when someone else’s careless actions or omissions result in you sustaining an injury and damages, such as pain and suffering. The basic rule of negligence is that you are entitled to make a claim for damages if you have been injured as a result of the negligence of a third party.
When it comes to situations of false billing, it is already well-known that hospital bills are exorbitant if one does not have health insurance or financial stability. If there is an instance of being charged for services that were not given, or additional unnecessary expenses that the patient should not be charged for, this can come under the category of false billing. While false billing can happen for a number of reasons, and not with a malicious intent, this would still cause financial loss to the customer. Hospitals that use the services of a medical billing company are less likely to commit these mishaps, as everything is recorded electronically, thus eliminating the chances of manual errors.
When it comes to medical malpractice claims, hospital negligence can be a difficult thing to prove. For example, when it comes to childbirth injuries, the damage done to the child often doesn’t reveal itself until months after the birth. In order to link the injury back to the hospital, you would need the assistance of really good attorneys, similar to ones from this Georgia child birth law firm.
Most negligence cases are tied to patient care, usually because of mistakes made during surgery. Medical errors can range from a misplaced stitch to a surgical instrument or a miscommunication between a doctor and nurse that leads to a mistake. On top of that, there is always the possibility of a hospital’s negligent act being beyond the scope of their negligence, such as a medical error occurring due to a physician’s lack of experience.
If you have encountered any of these problems and are wondering when you can sue a hospital for negligence, be sure to get in touch with a lawyer beforehand. They will be able to answer any questions you have, as well as being able to guide you through this process.