If a patient sues a hospital, it is most likely going to be for medical malpractice. Medical malpractice occurs when a doctor harms a patient because he or she did not competently administer medical treatment. A doctor has a duty to his or her patients and he or she cannot act negligently.
All medical malpractice cases involve negligence. Doctors are protected from lawsuits if a patient is just unhappy with the results. Doctors must be reasonably skilled and careful with their patients. If your loved one not only experienced medical malpractice but died as a result, then you may have a wrongful death case. Here is what you need to know about medical malpractice and whether you have a lawsuit.
Inappropriate Treatment
Improper treatment involves administering the wrong treatment or administering a treatment incorrectly. Medical malpractice always involves treatment that most competent doctors would utilize correctly or treatments that other doctors wouldn’t administer for that illness or condition. In medicine, there is always room for error. The crucial component of medical malpractice is whether a competent doctor would have done the same.
Failed Diagnosis
When a doctor fails to diagnose your condition accurately, it can lead to a worsened condition. Failed diagnosis is complex, though. There are situations where a doctor might fail to diagnose a complicated condition or illness. Some diagnoses may reasonably appear the same as others. The only time that you can sue for failure to diagnose is if the doctor made a mistake that no reasonable or competent doctor would make. If most doctors would have diagnosed the illness properly, then it is a mistake of the doctor.
No Risk Warning
It is a doctor’s responsibility to warn his or her patients about the risks associated with every course of treatment. All procedures have some form of inherent risk. A doctor cannot avoid mentioning the risks in order to guarantee that the patient agrees to the procedure. It is crucial that the doctor inform the patient of any possible risk and for him or her to make an informed decision. If you suffer an injury due to a risk that the doctor never informed you of, he or she may be liable and you may be able to sue the hospital.
If your loved one died in a doctor’s care due to a doctor’s incompetence, then you may have a wrongful death case. When a doctor works for a hospital, you normally can file a claim against the hospital. To discover whether you have a case, contact a medical malpractice attorney, like a medical malpractice attorney in Longwood, FL.Thanks to David & Philpot, PL for their insight into when to sue a hospital for wrongful death.