When care falls below the standard
Even though most medical care providers are highly qualified and competent, the Institute of Medicine’s landmark report To Err Is Human estimated that medical errors cause as many as 98,000 deaths in American hospitals every year. For a medical malpractice claim, a person must have suffered serious and permanent injury directly caused by substandard care, treatment or evaluation by a doctor, hospital or other healthcare provider. Examples of substandard care include, but are not limited to:
- Leaving a sponge inside a person after surgery
- Operating on the wrong part of the body
- Giving a person the wrong prescription drug
- Birth trauma and brain trauma
- Failure to diagnose cancer
- Unnecessary operations
- Defective orthopedic implants
- Complications with cosmetic implants
If you or a loved one has been the victim of medical malpractice, call David Price to discuss your case.
What is medical malpractice?
Medical and healthcare providers can be sued for injuries caused by their negligence under the theory of medical malpractice, also referred to as medical negligence. Medical malpractice occurs when treatment falls below the standard of care generally accepted and established by the appropriate medical community.
In a medical malpractice case, an attorney must prove that the provider did not meet the applicable standard of care in your — or your loved one’s — particular case in order to recover monetary damages. Doctors, dentists and other medical specialists, including hospitals and surgical physicians, have an obligation to conduct themselves professionally and not harm their patients. Unfortunately, errors are often avoidable and result from providers who are inadequately trained or simply too busy to be thorough.
A bad or undesired result does not automatically mean medical malpractice occurred. For a doctor or hospital to be liable, the lawyer must show that their medical services fell below the standard of care and that they were therefore negligent. Examples include administering too much anesthesia, performing a procedure improperly, or failing to do something that was medically necessary. Other common instances include wrong-site surgery, objects left inside patients, medication errors, and failure to diagnose a time-sensitive illness before it is too late.
A bad or undesired result does not automatically mean medical malpractice occurred. To determine whether you have a case, you need to consult with a lawyer.
Hospital malpractice
Hospital malpractice is a form of medical malpractice. It occurs when a doctor, nurse or other hospital staff member causes harm by committing an act of negligence while caring for a patient. David Price represents hospital patients who did not receive proper or timely medical care during their hospitalization and were hurt by medical or nursing negligence.
Like all medical facilities, hospitals have a duty to use reasonable care when hiring and supervising their employees, including doctors, nurses, interns, technicians and aides. When a hospital staff member fails to act as a reasonable staff member would under the same circumstances, malpractice or negligence is likely to occur.
There are no guarantees that a physician can improve or cure a person’s condition — but when a patient is injured or disabled after hospital treatment, they may be a victim of hospital malpractice. To find out whether you have a case, talk to a lawyer.