8 Doctor Errors that Result in Hospital Negligence Liability Lawsuits
Legally Reviewed and Edited by: Terry Cochran
Hospitals for most people are places of hope and healing, for others, not so much. They may have suffered injury or loss due to one of a variety of things going wrong, including physician error. In many cases, it is hard to figure out exactly what went wrong and who is to blame, and this is best handled by hospital negligence lawyers at Cochran, Kroll & Associates, P.C. who is experienced in dealing with these types of cases.
Medical Malpractice
Medical malpractice suits are one of the most contentious in civil law, with doctors and hospitals claiming that patients bring frivolous lawsuits and the AMA (American Medical Association) calling for tort reforms. They and other business organizations contend that there is a multitude of complex problems relating to medical negligence claims; such as:
- Whether the tort system can distinguish between meritorious and non-meritorious claims.
- The impact on inflation.
- Liability insurance cost.
- The concomitant effect on healthcare cost and access, by doctors practicing defensive medicine.
- The fact that these suits do not deter medical negligent errors.
Filing a medical malpractice case against a hospital for errors their doctors committed can be very complicated, stressful and overwhelming. Hospitals have procedures in place to minimize their liability as far as possible and will have either on staff lawyers or specialized malpractice groups on retainer, which can be daunting and intimidating. Personal injury lawyers that specialize in medical malpractice, such as Cochran, Kroll & Associates, P.C. can assist you with these cases and take the burden off your shoulders.
Make sure that you will qualify for a medical malpractice case, as you will have to prove duty of care, breach of that duty, direct causation and damages. Sometimes grief turns into anger and lashing out at somebody makes you feel more in control but speaking to an experienced medical malpractice lawyer at our law firm can help you clarify your case.
Errors that Result in Lawsuits
1. Severe trauma errors:
Hospitals with Emergency Rooms have to deal with very severe trauma cases, which has the highest death rates in hospitals. ER’s can become chaotic with major trauma events, making it more likely to miss injuries, diagnosis or have enough staff and facilities available to deal with massive trauma. Severe trauma even on quiet days resulting in death or severe disability, trigger medical malpractice suits.
2. Diagnosis errors:
- Failure to diagnose
- Incorrect diagnosis
- Secondary diagnosis missed
- Delay in diagnosis
- Referral to specialist or request for consultation not done or done late
- Not transferring the patient to a specialty center when required
- Not diagnosing post-op complications timeously
- Diagnostic equipment not working, mixing up results, not following up on diagnostic tests.
3. Treatment errors:
- Wrong treatment and surgery
- Incomplete treatment or surgery
- Insufficient need for surgery
- Incorrect surgical technique
- Medication errors
- Incomplete or inappropriate medical procedures and processes
- Treatments that injure the patient.
4. Careless intervention:
- Not responding when paged for patient
- Lack of standard of care and attention
- Post-op follow-ups not done according to standard of care
- Interventions under sub-optimal conditions
- Not involving the patient in medical decision making
5. Poor outcomes:
- Infections
- Fistulas and Seromas
- Retained foreign bodies
- Complications of surgery
- Organ failure
- Loss of limb
- Loss of vital organ
- Loss of cognition
- Death
- Emotional distress
6. Lack of informed consent
7. Errors due to inexperience
8. Errors due to mistakes following an electronic medical record malfunction
Eileen Kroll, a registered nurse and personal injury trial attorney, at Cochran, Kroll & Associates, phone number: 866-MICH-LAW, can help you evaluate your case and see you through the complexity of filing against a hospital for medical negligence. Contact Eileen or another member of our legal team at 866-MICH-LAW for a free consultation. Our law firm never charges a fee unless a recovery is made.
Disclaimer : The information provided is general and not for legal advice. The blogs are not intended to provide legal counsel and no attorney-client relationship is created nor intended.
