Hospital Mistakes: When Are They Medical Malpractice?

Hospital mistakes happen all the time.  For the lucky ones, hospital mistakes do not result in injury or illness.  But for thousands of patients each year, hospital mistakes cause serious and even fatal injuries and complications.

Not every mistake that happens in a hospital amounts to medical malpractice.  Some mistakes do not involve medical treatment, some do not amount to a breach of the appropriate level of care, and some do not result in injuries.  So how do you know when you should contact an attorney?

The short answer is that you should contact an experienced medical malpractice attorney like those at Lowe Scott Fisher Co., LPA immediately if you or a family member suffered injury at a hospital.

You may not know the complexities of malpractice law, but you know when you have been harmed.  Through a free consultation, our trial team can help you understand whether your injuries were the result of medical malpractice.

Hospital Mistakes and Malpractice

When you are injured during the course of, or as the result of, medical treatment, this raises concern that medical malpractice may have occurred.  In order for a hospital mistake or error to amount to medical malpractice, the mistake must have deviated from and fallen below appropriate standards of medical care, and the deviation must have caused an injury to the patient.

Medical malpractice is incredibly frequent.  In a 2013 article, Forbes estimated that medical errors cause approximately 200,000 fatalities in the U.S. every year.  This figure does not even account for instances where medical negligence results in non-life-ending injuries.

Clearly, hospital mistakes are alarmingly commonplace.  Fortunately, injured patients and their families are entitled to pursue legal action against hospitals, doctors, and other medical professionals who commit malpractice.

Why Hospital Mistakes Happen

There are many ways that hospital mistakes can occur, and so there are also many reasons why mistakes happen.  While every case is different, mistakes tend to occur for one of a few different reason:

• Understaffing
• Staff Working on Long Hours
• Administrative Errors
• Failure to Review Chart/Results
• Prescription Errors
• Misdiagnosis or Failure to Diagnose

Some errors occur as the result of an individual failure, but many occur as the result of systemic issues within a for-profit healthcare system.  More than ever, hospitals tend to treat patients as sources of income rather than human beings.  This mentality leads to cost-cutting, impersonal care, and far too many mistakes.

How We Can Help

Lowe Scott Fisher Co., LPA’s attorneys have represented injured patients and their families for more than three decades, both in Cleveland and throughout Ohio.  Despite hospital and insurance lobbyists’ efforts to limit patients’ rights, our lawyers continue to fight back against negligent hospitals and medical professionals so that you and your family can receive justice.

Because statutory periods for filing your medical malpractice lawsuit are limited, it is imperative to contact an experienced attorney immediately if you or your family member suffered injury or wrongful death as the result of a hospital mistake

Call or email us now for your free consultation.