Hospital Negligence Lawyers

What Is Hospital Negligence?

Hospital negligence is a form of medical malpractice that can lead to serious or life-threatening complications. Several different types of hospital employees can commit malpractice including surgeons, doctors, nurses, anesthesiologists, physician assistants, and anyone else who has direct contact with a patient.

Hospitals violate federal and state law when its employees commit an act of malpractice that harms a patient.

If you or a close family member have experienced this type of treatment when you went to a hospital for help, we invite you to contact us the medical malpractice lawyer at Jacob Fuchsberg Law Firm to inquire about your legal rights in suing a hospital for a negligence claim.

Call 212-869-3500 today or contact us online for a free consultation.

Types of hospital negligence and malpractice

In the majority of cases, hospital employees treat a patient adequately and he or she goes on to recover from whatever caused the stay in the hospital or trip to the emergency room in the first place. Unfortunately, this scenario does not play out for every patient who visits a hospital to receive medical treatment. Some receive neglectful or even abusive treatment from hospital staff instead, leaving them suffering even more or causing their untimely death.

Some hospital administrators believe that all they need to do is apologize to the patient and everything will be alright. Occasionally an official employee of the hospital will speak to the victim directly to mitigate any consequence to the hospital, staff members, or even an independent contractor. While others will never admit to making a mistake. As an injured patient, you know that words will not help you recover. Perhaps you are asking yourself the question can I sue a hospital for negligence? The answer is yes if you can prove that the actions of a hospital employee or a healthcare professional have a direct relationship with your current injuries.

Perhaps you recognize one of the common forms of hospital malpractice listed below.

• Amputation of the wrong body part or infection from amputation
• Bed and pressure sores due to lying in one position too long without staff checking on the patient
• Clostridium Difficile, MSSA, MRSA, or another infection the patient acquires in a hospital
• Dispensing the wrong medication or wrong strength of a medication
• Failure to monitor the patient’s fluid levels
• Failure to order the correct diagnostic tests
• Misdiagnosis
• Birth Injuries
• Forcing the patient to wait too long in the emergency room for care because a medical provider assumed his or her situation was not serious
• General failure to provide a duty of care
• Improper supervision
• Improper treatment for the patient’s condition
• Inadequate levels of staffing
• Emergency Room Errors
• Incorrectly reading the results of a diagnostic test and medical records
• Omission errors, including the failure to administer an antibiotic
• Surgical error, including operating on the wrong patient, wrong body part, or performing the wrong surgery resulting in serious injury or disfigurement.
• Unwarranted delay in providing diagnosis, treatment, or surgery

New York law allows injured patients two years and six months to file a medical malpractice lawsuit in most cases. However, the statute of limitations has several exceptions and can become complicated. Our hospital negligence lawyers will explain how much time you have to file a medical malpractice claim for medical negligence based on your individual circumstances, and give you best legal advice possible.

Complications From Hospital Negligence

You must meet very specific criteria before you can file a hospital negligence lawsuit. For example, you need to demonstrate that you had a professional relationship with the doctor or other medical providers who treated you. This is known as duty of care. The rule is in place to prevent patients from suing doctors when they are simply unhappy with their advice or heard the information secondhand.

All medical professionals must exhibit reasonable skill and medical care when treating a patient. This means that the standard of care does not need to be outstanding but rather something you would expect of another provider with the same level of experience and training.

To prove negligence against a hospital employee, you must demonstrate that his or her actions harmed you in a way that the actions of another provider considered component would not have harmed you. This typically requires having hospital neglect lawyers call an expert medical witness to testify on your behalf. Lastly, you need to prove that it was the provider’s error and not a complication of your medical condition itself that caused your present injuries.

When it comes to hospital negligence cases, certain errors appear more often than others. Childbirth errors, which can include failure to monitor the mother appropriately during pregnancy or a critical error that harmed the mother or baby during birth, is one of them.

Others include:

• Anesthesia errors include failure to administer the proper amount of anesthesia to a patient or to monitor him or her while under anesthesia and coming out of it. The failure to consider the patient’s complete medical history is another common cause.
• Delayed or missed diagnosis in a hospital setting can cause your condition to worsen because you don’t receive treatment in a timely manner. This can lead to immediate or premature death.
• Medication errors, as described above, can include prescribing the wrong medication or dose, giving medication meant for another patient, or failing to consider potentially serious interactions with other drugs the patient currently takes.
• Surgical errors can take on numerous forms. In addition to the problems mentioned above, a surgeon may leave a foreign instrument inside of the patient’s body, puncture organs, or commit other negligent acts, or the medical staff may not provide adequate post-surgical supervision.

Suing A Hospital For Pain And Suffering

New York is a comparative negligence state. That means any amount you receive in a personal injury or medical malpractice lawsuit is reduced by the percentage of blame a jury assigns you.

For instance, your doctor could have failed to diagnose you in a timely manner but you failed to come in for follow-up care after he or she made a proper diagnosis. Unlike many other states, however, New York does not put a cap on what you can recover for medical malpractice, or wrongful death nor does it limit non-economic damages, such as suing a hospital for pain and suffering.

Pain and suffering is subjective and can hinge on how much sympathy a jury has for your situation. It may include such things as ongoing physical pain, emotional distress, loss of close relationships, and the inability to work in the career that brings you personal satisfaction and that you spent thousands of dollars investing in to get a college degree.

You absolutely can request compensation for pain and suffering if you decide to follow through with your lawsuit with our personal injury attorneys.

How do you know if you have a hospital negligence case?

A hospital has wronged you and now you are receiving medical bills you have no financial resources to pay. You may also be looking at lifelong pain and disability due to the hospital error as well as lost wages while you recover. Before this situation becomes even more stressful for you, please reach out to our law offices and speak with a hospital negligence attorney to learn more about what you can do to seek justice for a changed life at someone else’s hand.

Medical malpractice law is complex and it is often best to speak with an attorney who can evaluate your claim. Our attorney-client relationship is what we’re known, for as we put you and your family first. Also, good medical malpractice attorneys do not charge any fees for this kind of consultation, so you have nothing to lose (and potentially plenty to gain, in peace of mind).

If you or a loved one have been a victim of hospital negligence in New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut, it's critical to speak with an attorney about your claim as soon as possible.

Our law firm will help you understand the process of suing a hospital for pain and suffering, and discuss the next steps. Contact us online or call 212-869-3500 today for a no-risk, free consultation with an experienced personal injury lawyer at the Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Firm. Let our family help yours.

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